Helleborus foetidus | Stinking Hellebore.
Family: Ranunculaceae (The Buttercup Family) > Genus: Helleborus.
Evergreen Perennial.
Toxicity:
Toxic to ingest. Sap may cause irritation.
Common Names:
Dungwort, Setterwort and Bear's Foot.
Found in many gardens but wild to semi shaded areas of woodland. These one have proven perplexing as I encountered them whilst walking in an area of parkland near to where I live. They appeared with no others anywhere in sight making me wonder how they happened to arrive here. This location could be considered as edgelands as it is right next to a busy road, has a procession of pylons and various dens sequestered about the place.
Firstly, they do not stink. They do however have a smell best described as very earthy and at worst described at somewhat fetid (hence the foetidus). It’s not too ghastly so you can just rub a leaf and smell to help identify it.
There are in the region of 20 genus of Hellebore and this does not include the Lenten Rose cultivars Helleborus x hybridus which I will not be discussing here.
The Helleborus genus contains both evergreen and deciduous species but Helleborus foetidus is evergreen and forms clumps. A key form of classification within the genus is between those which have a stem (referred to as caulescent) and those that do not (referred to as acaulescent).
Leaves; Pedate.
Sepals.
Light levels.
References
RHS Encyclopedia Of Plants and Flowers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Mathew
https://helleborus.de/en/plant-facts/botany/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellebore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helleborus_foetidus
https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/dangerous-plants