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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) : [ web1913 ]
Hellebore \Hel"le*bore\, n. [L. helleborus, elleborus, Gr. ?, ?;
cf. F. hell['e]bore, ell['e]bore.]
1. (Bot.) A genus of perennial herbs ({Helleborus) of the
Crowfoot family, mostly having powerfully cathartic and
even poisonous qualities. H. niger is the European black
hellebore, or Christmas rose, blossoming in winter or
earliest spring. H. officinalis was the officinal
hellebore of the ancients.
2. (Bot.) Any plant of several species of the poisonous
liliaceous genus Veratrum, especially V. album and V.
viride, both called white hellebore.