Stinking hellebore

Stinking hellebore Helleborus foetidus is a rare native perennial that grows in open woodlands on limestone, and is now perhaps more often seen as a garden plant. It grows in a number of local sites, and today Chris and I headed off to Bedford Purlieus to see how it was doing. It seems to have liked the bizarre weather we've had over the last year and there were many plants in flower over a much wider area than we recall seeing it previously.

The stinking hellebore gets its name from the unpleasant odour it emits, which is more noticeable if you pinch the glossy, serrated leaves. The plant produces the odour to attract insects for pollination. Its green, globe-shaped flowers have a purple rim, and they provide an early source of nectar for spring flying bumble bees, not that there were any flying around today!

In the middle ages, this plant was used as a cure for worms. It is deadly toxic, with the cardiac glycosides acting upon the heart and the steroidal saponins interfering with the digestive system. Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches, mental confusion, numbness of extremities, hypotension, muscular spasms, cardio-respiratory failure and finally death. Some of the poisons can be absorbed through the skin. Sounds a very extreme treatment for worms to me!