Help identifying hellebores?

Hi everyone,

   A couple of weeks ago I took a trip down to South Carolina to visit
   some gardens and take some plant pictures.

   While at the Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden I stumbled across several
   huge patches of hellebores in bloom.  All were simply listed as
   Helleborus orientalis.

   I personally don't know much about Hellebores yet.  I have Graham Rice's
   book on order to help me in the future, but it's not here yet and I'm
   trying to label my slides *now*.  :)

   Here are the pictures (only four):

      http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/sc/helhyaa40.jpg
      http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/sc/helhybb40.jpg
      http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/sc/helhycc40.jpg
      http://www.mallorn.com/~lindsey/sc/helhydd40.jpg

   I know they're far from perfect, but maybe they can help group/identify
   these plants.

   What I'm wondering is how to classify them.  For example, should the 
   first one be listed as something like Helleborus x hybridus (red), 
   or should it be listed as Helleborus orientalis (Red). 

   Or are there further classifications and groupings for these?  

   As you can tell, I'm a total neophyte when it comes to Hellebores.  Any
   help that you can give me is greatly appreciated.  :)

Thanks,

Chris

http://www.hort.net/gallery/      2485 online plant photos and growing!
http://www.hort.net/gallery/date/2002-03-24/       The latest additions

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