Hellebore, Spring 2018

These common garden plants are popular because they flower during the depths of winter. The roots of all Helleborus are strongly emetic and potentially fatal. It was sometimes used to cause vomiting after poisoning which is now known to be harmful.
Dioscorides said it was called Melampodium after a goatherd called Melampus who gave it to Proteus’ daughters to purge them and, thus, cure them of madness. Both Dioscorides and Pliny say that if an eagle sees you digging up a hellebore he will cause your death. Pliny adds the need to draw a circle round the plant, face East and offer a prayer before digging it up.