Kaki Christmas Roses

We find references to helleborus niger (black hellebore) as early as Antiquity, in the texts of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. It was already attributed many virtues: in addition to its purgative properties, it was especially considered a remedy for madness. Several stories from mythology abound in this sense: for example, it is said that Heracles, driven mad by a charm from Hera to the point of killing his own children, regained his sanity thanks to hellebore root extract. A belief that would last until the Middle Ages.

The plant was also used in black magic: it is said to have been used to summon dark forces during exorcism rites. It was also said to protect livestock. According to one belief, when an animal appeared to be poisoned, it was enough to pierce its ear and slip in an extract of Christmas rose root to ensure its recovery.

But you should know that black hellebore, like all hellebores, is a very toxic plant! It contains helleborein, which paralyzes the nervous system and acts on the heart. Perhaps it is because of the side effects observed that the plant is given many nicknames, each stranger than the last: "mad herb", "griffin's foot", "bear's paw", "snake rose", "snake bread"...

A Christian legend gives its version of the birth of the black hellebore… Madelon, a young shepherdess who was watching her sheep during the winter, saw a rich caravan pass by. It was the Three Wise Men, their arms laden with gifts, who were going to the baby Jesus to celebrate his birth. Faced with this profusion of gifts, poor Madelon felt helpless, having nothing to offer to this long-awaited newborn. An angel taking pity on her transformed her tears falling in the snow into a lovely flower: the Christmas rose was born! It has since become customary to place a few black hellebore in nativity scenes.