Hi George,
Yes, many have interest in leaf division in hybrids and species. H. multifidus istriacus as well as H. torquatus and an unnamed Italian species have allot of interest of many helleborist.

Try these links,

Late flowers and foliage,
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/12648/1154562.html

H. multifidus istriacus,
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/12648/1151416.html

Just Pictures three,
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/12648/1151860.html

H. multifidus leaf has good substance, to use a Hosta term. The leaf is thick and has good fungus resistance. There is a new Italian species, unnamed species, that is outstanding.

There will be many new hybrids with "increased leaf division in the progeny" that will have dark foliage and yellow or white flowers, it will take time.

If you have interest you should start collecting true species, Tim may have specie hellebore seed still available for purchase this year, if you like his email let me know.

Tim's address is,
TIM MURPHY - HELLEBORE & CYCLAMEN SPECIALIST
5 School Road, Broughton, Cambridgeshire, PE28 3AT, UK.

Bruce

Hi George and Bruce,

George, I believe you raise a very important question, and this is one reason the future of hellebore hybrids seems so bright. To date, H. torquatus has been used most extensively I believe for introducing leaf divisions etc... One reason H. hercegovinus and some of the Italian species have been used very little is that not many people have been growing them for long enough to use them extensively. Would you believe that I used to dislike the sight of hercegovinus? It's because most photos available were of small plants with only one or two wimpy leaves. But now that I have seen mature specimens, I am amazed by their beauty and potential. Growers who have H. hercegovinus for example likely received seed fairly recently and then had a long wait for it to bloom. Another example is H. croaticus which should make a fine garden plant and parent for hybrids but has only been sporadically available for a decade or so.

As Bruce mentioned there are some exquisite and exiting 'new' plants. Some of the Italian species are not used often because of concerns about their hardiness perhaps, but some should be quite hardy and useful for developing great hybrids. I certainly intend to do just that but there is of course the wait! By the time many of my species plants bloom, others will certainly have made notable progress in this area.

Check out the following Belgian site. Info is in Dutch but the bottom half of the page shows a few hybrids with nicely divided foliage. It also shows H. hercegovinus.

Here is a link that might be useful: hybrid foliage

Tim still has seed for sale and can send anyone interested his Hellebore and Cyclamn Seed for Sale Lists via e-mail. Both hellebore and cyclamen can be found together at some of the same sights in the wild. Here is an example of the two growing together

H. niger and c. purpurascens
http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/1133685/1173349.html

Tim's e-mail address is Cilicium@aol.com

Hi there Terry,

Yep! I bought some of Tim's seed after bruce gave me his eMail. I got the odorus, multifidus, foetidus and torquatus as well as a couple of his garden groups. Now if they only sprout. I am a GB member also, and avidly watch for Tim and Matthias's reports on their Balkan trips.

George

George,

They will germinate, I have some of his hybridus from last year and they did well. I am a bit new to the species ones myself, but I am hopeful. You can always post on gb (I saw you in the hellebore forum there) or e-mail. He is sooo very helpful. He has also helped me with my cyclamen and has been the best teacher!

See you soon!
Terry