The average garden hellebore is not just one species, which is why it is usually called Helleborus x hybridus. Some people call it Helleborus orientalis but this is not correct, H. orientalis is just one of the species that have contributed to x hybridus. It is probably the most common species involved in the mix though, having anything from white to pink to purplish to yellowish coloured flowers, with one sub-species that has spotting.
Other species involved in the many-coloured garden hybrid probably include H. torquatus, H. atrorubens, H. odorus, H. purpurescens, H. viridis, H. cyclophyllus, H. multifidius and H. dumetorum. These contribute attributes such as veining, the flush or collar inside the base of the flower and dark nectaries. Some species have been found with double flowers occurring naturally, including H. torquatus and H. niger.
There are also other hybrids man-made between the other species but the more I read, the more I find, so they’ll have to be the subject of another post.
The genetics I am interested in for my purposes are the colours and markings which have already been bred in to Helleborus x hybridus. I’ll be looking in to the dominant and recessive features of hellebore flowers, if there even is such a sequence. I’ve heard spotting is usually carried through, so perhaps that is a dominant gene or set of genes.
Then there is veining. Larger spots and blotches. Yellow nectaries, red nectaries and dark purple nectaries. Coloured edges (picotee). Darker, or more rarely, paler flushes from the centre of the flower. Darker or even different coloured flower backs (bicolour). So far no one has documented this kind of information, at least not publicly! Perhaps they are so variable and so inconsistent that it won’t be possible.
Then there is flower shape. Double, single, anemone form and semi-double. The latter seems controversial but I have one that can definitely be described as such, although in its first year it was anemone flowered. Star shaped, rounded, open or cupped, outward facing or hanging downwards. There are as many variables as there are possible species in the parentage. And not only that, but plants can show slightly different characteristics each year! I have one plant which was a single, but this year has anemone flowers.
