The Greeks and the Romans distinguished two types of hellebore, which are in fact two totally different plants. There is

BLACK HELLEBORE:

L	elleborus a Greek borrowing; the pure Latin was veratrum (see below) Flora Eur. 201	E	black hellebore, Christmas rose	S	Helleborus niger L.
G	Christrose, Nieswurz	F	ellébore noir, rose de Noël	I	rosa di Natale, elleboro nero, fava di lupo

3.451

L	veratrum Flora Eur. 1586	E	white hellebore, false white helleborine	S	Veratrum album L.
G	Weisser Germer	F	ellébore blanc, varaire blanc	I	veratro comune, veratro bianco, elabro, elleboro bianco, velatro, giglio verde

Veratrum.album.1.jpg	Veratrum.album.album.ja1.jpg	veratrum.album.jpg
veratrum_album.jpg	Veratrum_album.5.JPG	vera_alb.jpg

 

Either one is death on toast. Black hellebore is "Very poisonous" and the roots are "violently purgative" (Flora Europea).

White hellebore is even worse. "Very poisonous. . . . It can easily be mistaken for for the Yellow Gentian [Great Yellow Gentian, Gentiana lutea, Flora Eur. 996, not mentioned by Vergil] which is used in beverages, etc. The False Helleborine has leaves arranged in threes and they are hairy beneath, and the roots have a stong, unpleasant smell, while the leaves of the Gentian are opposite, hairless beneath and the roots are almost odourless" (Flora Europea). There have been some recent cases of accidental poisoning in France and Italy.

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