448 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Nerium continued. 

 Cupreatum. Flowers large, single, copper-coloured ; lobes well 



expanded. Free-flowering. 

 Felix Bourgnet. Flowers, inside pale saffron, outside rosy 



previous to opening, single. Very free-flowering. 

 Henri Mares. Flowers rosy-pink ; corolla double. A beautiful 



shade of colour. 



Madame Peyre. Flowers cream, semi-double. A good variety. 

 Madonna grandiflorum. Flowers creamy- white, large ; lobes 



broad ; corolla double. Very fine. 



Mons. Balaguier. Flowers very pale pink, arge, well ex- 

 d. A delicate colour. 



panded. 



Paulin Gregoire. Flowers large, single. 

 rose colour. 



Beautiful bright 



FIG. 686. FLOWERING BRANCHLET OF NERIUM OLEANDER 

 ALBUM PLENUM. 



Professor Duchartre. Flowers deep rosy-purple, of medium 



size ; corolla double. Fine and distinct. 

 Professor Durand. Flowers pale yellow, hose-in-hose. Very 



free-flowering. 



Rose Double. Flowers bright rose, double. Large and fine. 

 Soeur Agnes. Flowers pure white, single. Very pretty. 

 Souvenir du Felix Dunal. Flowers bright rose, large ; 



corolla double. Very good 

 Splendens. Flowers bright red, double. 

 Variegatum. Flowers red ; leaves edged with white or yellow. 



NERTERA (from nerteros, lowly ; referring to the 

 habit of the species). STNS. Cunina, Erythrodanum, 

 Leptostigma, Nerteria. ORD. Rubiacece. A genus com- 

 prising about half-a-dozen species of very small, slender, 

 creeping herbs, indigenous to the mountains of Java, the 

 Philippine and Sandwich Islands, the Andes of South 

 America, Australia, New Zealand, and the Antarctic lands. 

 Flowers axillary, inconspicuous, sessile. Berry red, ovoid 

 or 'globose, two-stoned. Leaves small, opposite, sessile or 

 petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate. N. depressa, commonly 

 known under the absurd name of Flowering or Fruiting 

 Duckweed, the only species introduced, is a charming 

 hardy, alpine, perennial rock plant, which forms a dense 

 carpet, close on the ground, of creeping stems and tiny 

 leaves, and is exceedingly attractive when covered with 

 orange-red or crimson berries. It may be increased from 

 seeds, but is more frequently propagated by division of 

 the root ; any small pieces will grow freely, especially if 

 placed in a little warmth. The plants thrive in a sandy 



Nertera continued. 



loam, to which the addition of some leaf soil is recom- 

 mended. They prefer shade to bright sunshine, in summer, 

 and if grown in the open, should be protected with a bell 

 glass in winter. N. depressa is also well adapted for 

 culture in pots or shallow pans. The plants, when in- 

 serted in early spring, should be placed in a little 

 warmth until established, when a cool, airy position will 

 be more suitable for the production of flowers, and, sub- 

 sequently, berries. When the latter are set, the pots 

 are sometimes utilised for plunging in carpet-bedding 

 designs, where they prove most interesting and effective. 

 The plants require plentiful supplies of water at the roots. 



FIG. 687. NERTERA DEPRESSA, showing Plants in Flower and 

 Fruit, and detached Flower and Fruit. 



N. depressa (depressed).* Bead Plant, fl. greenish, incon- 

 spicuous, minute, fr. bright orange, globose, the size of small 

 peas, produced in great profusion. I. small, ovate, almost fleshy. 

 Stems smooth, creeping, rooting, thickly clothed with leaves. 

 Antarctic Mountains, 1868. See Fig. 687. (B. M. 5799.) 



NERTERIA. A synonym of Nertera (which see). 

 NERVES. The strong veins upon leaves or flowers. 

 NERVOSE, NERVOUS. Full of nerves. 



(said to be from nesos, an island; on 

 account of its having been found in the Island of 

 Mauritius). Including Heimia. ORD. Lythrariece. A 

 genus comprising about a dozen species of glabrous or 

 tomentose, erect, leafy, half-hardy herbs or sub-shrubs, 

 with quadrigonal branches inhabiting the warmer parts 

 of America and Africa. Flowers yellow, purple, or blue, 

 disposed in axillary and often trichotomously divided 

 peduncles, sometimes capitate ; petals four to seven, 

 inserted in the mouth of the calyx. Leaves opposite, 

 rarely ternately whorled or alternate, entire. Seeds of 

 the annual species must be sown in heat, in spring, and 

 the plants hardened off and inserted in the open border 

 at the end of May or beginning of June. The sub-shrubs, 

 &c., succeed in sheltered spots, in any common garden 

 soil. Propagated by seeds, by divisions of the root, or 

 by cuttings. The two species here described are pro- 

 bably the only ones yet introduced. 



N. salicifolia (Willow-leaved). fl., petals obovate. August. 

 I. ternate or opposite, the uppermost ones often alternate, very 

 shortly stalked, lanceolate, acute, narrow at base. h. 5ft. 

 Mexico, &c., 1821. Sub-shrub. SYN. Heimia salicifolia. 

 N. triflora (three-flowered), fl. blue, in threes, on the apex of 

 the peduncle. August. I. opposite, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or 

 acute, on short petioles, h. 2ft. to 3ft. Mauritius, &c., 1802. A 

 slender, half-hardy annual. 



NETTED. Covered with reticulated projecting 

 lines. 



