MISCELLANEOUS FLOWERING PLANTS 133 
drop off. Injury to the roots through bad drainage will pro- 
duce the same effect. The leaves and flowers of the Oleander 
are very poisonous. 
Olea fragrans. American Olive. This is an evergreen 
plant of a fine bushy habit and holly-like leaves. It produces 
a quantity of small, white, fragrant flowers. Propagation rather 
slow, by means of cuttings. Hardy in the South. 
Oxalis. These are tuberous-rooted plants with trifoliate 
leaves and very pretty flowers of different colors. Bulbs should 
be procured early in spring, planted in light sandy soil, and 
kept moist and shady until starting. Some kinds will rest 
after flowering, others continue to grow and blossom almost 
throughout the year. 
Pansies, for winter use, can easily be grown in pots or shal- 
low boxes in any room not too cool. Seed should be sown in 
September. 
Pleroma macrantha is an exceedingly beautiful shrub of 
the Melastoma family. It has oblong, hairy leaves, slender 
stems, and very large and beautiful flowers of a purplish-blue 
color. It will grow well in a soil composed of equal parts 
fibrous loam, peat, well-decayed manure, and sand. A fine 
plant for the South. When grown as a house-plant in the North 
a sunny position is necessary. 
Polygala speciosa and other kinds are very handsome 
winter-flowering plants, producing long racemes of white or 
purple flowers. Leaves small, linear. ‘To be grown in a mix- 
ture of equal parts leaf-mould, peat, and sand. Propagation 
easy by means of half-ripe cuttings. These plants must be 
potted very firmly. 
Primula obconica is a handsome winter-blooming Primrose, 
producing umbels of large lilac flowers on tall peduncles, and 
