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Pure white Lenten Rose?
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Posted by ripley7700 z9 Hou TX (My Page) on Tue, Jan 31, 06 at 10:14
| I ordered a gallon-container sized Lenten Rose - Royal Heritage strain from a certain online store notorious for mislabeling and swapping plants. I was hopeful that I escaped this legacy, but now that the hellebore has actually bloomed, I think I may have also been duped. How common is it for a Royal Heritage Lenten Rose to bloom all white? Without any green tinge, no speckling, etc.? I'm just trying to make sure that I wasn't sent a Christmas Rose instead of a Lenten Rose, and I'd appreciate any help that you can offer! The online store swears that it is, in fact, a Royal Heritage, it's just all white. The shape of the blooms, however, is consistent with a Christmas Rose. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Pure white Lenten Rose?
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| Lenten Rose (Helleborus X Hybridus) is quite often white. The easiest way to differentiate this from a Christmas Rose (H. niger) is the foliage. Once you have seen both, you can never mix them up. Lenten Rose leaves generally have 7-9 leaflets. The center 3 generally undivided and lightly toothed, and all arise from a nearly central point like a lupine leaf. Christmas Rose leaves generally branch off a curved stem section, somewhat like a maidenhair fern leaf though not as extreme. They also have a much heavier texture than the X hybridus. George |
RE: Pure white Lenten Rose?
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| One other obvious distinguishing feature is the flower stalks themselves. H. niger will generally flower at 6-9 inches and will usually only have one flower (sometimes two) per stalk. Also, the bracts (leaf-like structures on the flower stalk) are small and inconspicuous compared to H x hybridus. |
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