Abstract
Summary A systematic revision of the Italian species of Helleborus sect. Helleborastrum was based on numerical analysis of living and dry material. Three species are recognized as growing in Italy: H. viridis L., H. bocconei Ten., H. multifidus Vis. H. viridis grows in northern Italy and Tuscany. All records of H. occidentalis, H. odorus, H. laxus should be referred to this species. In the territory of Trieste the typical subspecies is vicariated by subsp. istriacus (Schiffner) Cristof. et Zanotti, comb. nova. H. bocconei ranges from the northern Apennine to Sicily. H. multifidus, new to the Italian flora, grows on the mountains of Abruzzo and Basilicata (Central and Southern Italy). The main range of this trans-adriatic entity is in Dalmatia. The three species are very polymorphic; intermediate forms, possibly due to interspecific hybridization, are particularly frequent where their ranges overlap.
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