Helleborus vesicarius

Helleborus vesicarius  - Pencil Sketch* 

*This picture is based from a botanical sketch by Helen Campbell as published in the English Garden magazine (May 2016).  Although I haven't drawn anything before other than stick figures and circles, learning to draw is my new hobby.  And what better subject than plants? 

Helleborus vesicarius is considered a rare plant that grows on a certain mountain region that extends from Turkey to Syria and Lebanon.  It is highly toxic which explains why it can survive on hillsides where goats graze.  Unlike the more common helleborus with gorgeous flowers, the balloon-like seedpods of Helleborus vesicarius is the most notable feature in this plant.  I can only imagine that as the seedpods mature and break off from the plant that they would move around in the landscape easily with the wind.  So the balloon-like characteristic of the pod is just another seed dispersal mechanism in nature.

Draw a plant you have not seen before 

and learn something about it.