Hellebore :

Hellebore, common name for any of a genus of plants of the buttercup family. Native to Eurasia, the flowers have five large, petal-like sepals, eight to ten inconspicuous tubular petals, many stamens, and three to ten pistils. Green hellebore produces greenish-yellow flowers in late winter or early spring. It is occasionally grown in gardens and has become naturalized. The commonly cultivated Christmas rose bears large white flowers from midwinter to early spring, and the Lenten rose has purplish flowers and usually blooms after the Christmas rose.
The false hellebores, or false helleborines, belong to a different genus and family. White false hellebore is a conspicuous perennialherb of damp mountain pastures throughout much of Europe. It has white flowers and numerous large leaves that are narrow at both ends and are accordion-pleated lengthwise. Black false hellebore, of high woods and meadows, is similar in appearance but has reddish-brown flowers. The rootstocks of these plants and of the related American species of false hellebore are known to contain a number of alkaloids. Recently, it has been discovered that the foliage of false hellebores can produce birth abnormalities in sheep and other animals if eaten by the female at a particular time in pregnancy. The susceptible period is less than one day. The common deformity produced, known as cyclopia, is malformation of the face resulting in a single median eye or two eyeballs in a single central socket.

Scientific classification: Hellebores make up the genus Helleborus of the family Ranunculaceae. Green hellebore is classified as Helleborus viridis, Christmas rose as Helleborus niger, and Lenten rose as Helleborus orientalis. False hellebores belong to the genus Veratrum of the family Liliaceae. White false hellebore is classified as Veratrum album, and black false hellebore as Veratrum nigrum.