Hellebore Classification: A Guide to the Different Types

H. orientalis

Commonly known as the Lenten rose, H. orientalis exhibits numerous colors and forms and is exceptionally hardy, making it the most frequently cross-bred variety.

There are so many plants that originate in this section that the cultivars are collectively called Helleborus x hybridus.

From whites and yellows to greens, pinks, and purples, there are single and double varieties in abundance from which the home gardener can choose.

There are three subspecies of H. orientalis:

• H. orientalis ssp. guttatus has white flowers with purple speckling.
• H. orientalis ssp. abchasicus has reddish new foliage, and flowers that start purple and fade to pink.
• H. orientalis ssp. orientalis has showy white blossoms.

This type is deciduous, dropping its leaves at season’s end. It reaches a mature height of 12 to 18 inches, and is best suited to Zones 4 to 9. Bloom time is from late winter to early spring.

H. purpurascens

H. purpurascens has cup-shaped purple flowers that range from one to two inches in diameter. The undersides of the sepals are purple or bright green.

The soft, medium-green foliage of this plant is deeply divided into multiple narrow segments. Being deciduous, it drops its leaves at season’s end.

Mature heights reach between eight and 12 inches. This species is suited to Zones 4 to 8, and blooms early in the winter.

H. torquatus

The one- to two-inch flowers of H. torquatus nod or face outward.

The sepals are bell-like, with deep purple backs and green undersides. Sometimes you’ll find striping on the undersides.

The striping and deep purple color make H. torquatus a popular plant for hybridizing.

The foliage consists of soft green leaves tinged with purple. Each has a pedate, or foot-and-toes, arrangement of multiple narrow, serrated segments.

This species is deciduous, dropping all of its leaves at the end of the growing season.

Mature heights are between nine and 12 inches. It is suited to growing in Zones 4 to 8, and blooms in late winter.

H. viridis

Sometimes called the green Lenten rose, this type has blossoms with a diameter of one to two inches, and powder-green, pointed sepals.

H. viridis is deciduous. The foliage is palmate, or fan-like, and consists of segmented green leaves that are narrow and glossy, with jagged serrated edges.

It reaches a mature height of 12 to 18 inches, does best in Zones 6 to 9, and blooms in early and mid-spring.

6. Dicarpon

The final section of Mathew’s classification contains species that have two joined seed-containing carpels.

To date, there is one such plant, H. thibetanus, the only hellebore to originate in Asia, as opposed to the Mediterranean.

There is some debate over its origin, so changes may be forthcoming!

H. thibetanus is a relative newcomer to the US hellebore market. It was identified in China in the 1860s, but was not available outside its native land until the 1990s.

It is characterized by partially open, bell-shaped blossoms that may nod or face outward.

Crisp sepals may start out white and fade to pink and then green. There may be purple veining. The sepals are pointed, unlike the rounded ones of many types.

This is an acaulescent plant with stalks that rise directly from fleshy rhizomes. The soft, light-green foliage beneath the blossoms is comprised of serrated leaves with seven to 11 segments each.

A noteworthy fact is that unlike the other species, H. thibetanus does not produce cotyledons, or the embryonic seed leaves of indefinite shape that usually come first when seedlings sprout. Instead, true leaves appear from the start.