ORIGIN OF THE STRIPED 

 OLEANDER 



A. D. Shamel 

 Riverside, Cal. 



T 



HK Oleander, Neriiim oleander 

 I. inn., is widch' grown as an 

 ornamental shrub or sometimes 

 trained in tree form in home grounds 

 or alongside roadways in southern 

 California. The plants are very hanU- 

 in this district and usually bloom pro- 

 fusely during the summer, and some 

 of them show more or less blossoms 

 throughout the entire year. The 

 flowers are \ery showy, rose-red, 

 pink, carmine, w^hite, or yellowish in 

 color and occur in terminal cymes. 

 Some of the plants bear beautifully 



variegated flowers, but the ones usually 

 seen ha\e either white or red flowers. 

 The shrubs usually attain a height of 

 about 10 feet in southern (\difornia, 

 but occasionalK' indi\idual plants ha\'e 

 been found which were approximatelv 

 20 feet high. 



The flowers are saher-shaped and 

 five-lobed when single, and from \}/^ 

 to 3 inches across. However, many of 

 the forms seen along the roadside and 

 examined by the writer have been 

 found to possess double flowers with 

 the inflorescence coming out as large, 



A STRIPED OR VARIEGATED OLEANDER PLANT 

 OlcandcT leaves usually have an even olive-^^reen color, hut occasionally a plant has been 

 ol)ser\c(l hearing some of its leaves strijied with white or golden color. ( )n this plant, j;rown from 

 a single < uttin^, are l)oth varitj^ated and ^rt-en hranclus all iH-arin^j white (lowers. The jilant 

 was found ^jrowin^ in a row of the ordinary oleanders with j;reen foliaj^e on the Narhonne ranch 

 in the Coachella Valley of southern California. The striped brant hes have a very striking appear- 

 ance and are considereti more urnamental than the ordinary j^reen i)lants. (Kig. 29.) 



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