326 



APOCYNACEAE. 



NERIUM. Oleander. 

 (Family Apocynaceae). 



Shrubs or small trees with 

 milky sap : evergreen. Twigs 

 moderate, more or less 3-sided: 

 pith moderate, irregular, spongy. 

 Buds solitary, sessile, small, round- 

 ed, with 2 or 3 exposed scales. 

 Leaf-scars in whorls of 3 or op- 

 posite, broadly triangular, slight- 

 ly notched, little raised, the axils 

 tomentulose and fringed: bundle- 

 trace 1, rounded: stipule-scars 

 lacking. Leaves lance-oblong, en- 

 tire, firm, slightly revolute, the 

 lower surface with minute pubes- 

 cent pits in which the stomata 

 are grouped. 



Notwithstanding its attractive 

 flowers, the oleander, which has 



^ ^ made itself at home in the South- 



west, is regarded with disfavor. as 

 being poisonous. This aspect of 



the plant is presented by Wilson in Bulletin 59 of the Ari- 

 zona Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 Branches green and puberulent, becoming glabrous. 



N. Oleander. 



