2138 



NERINE 



NERIUM 



cc. Segms. hardly or slightly crisped. 



4. pfcdica, Hook, f . Bulb globose, about 1 in. diam. : 

 Ivs. 4-6, glaucous, 8-9 in. long, suberect, appearing 

 with the fls. : umbels 4-6-fld., the other kinds being 8-20- 

 fld.; fls. white, keeled pink above; segms. oblanceolate, 

 thin, scarcely crisped ; stamens declined, the 3 longest a 

 little shorter than the perianth-segms. Original habitat 

 in doubt. B.M. 5901. R.H. 1913, p. 456. F.S. 23:2464. 

 Gn. 21:200. Var. Elwesii, Baker (N. Elwesii, Leichtl.), 

 has much broader bright green more persistent dis- 

 tinctly veined Ivs. with a prominent midrib: fls. more 

 compact and pedicels stouter; segms. 'pale rose with a 

 darker keel, thicker and more wavy. Var. alba, Hort., 

 fls. snow-white. 



5. B6wdenii, W. Wats. Bulb variable in size, the 

 largest bottle-shaped and Ijxj in. diam. and 2 in. long, 

 freely producing offsets: Ivs. }/-! ft. long and 1 in. or 

 less broad, glossy green, slightly channeled, obtuse: 

 scape nearly cylindrical, 12-18 in. long, bearing a loose 

 6-12-fld. umbel 9 in. across, the trigonous pedicels 2 

 in. long; fls. large, rose-pink with keels darker; segms. 

 2-3 in. long and }/$&.. wide, recurved and slightly wavy. 

 Cape Colony. B.M. 8117. G.C. III. 36:365. Gn. 77, 

 p. 570. F.S.R. 3: 120. As grown at Kew, the plants are 

 practically leafless when in fl. Var. p&llida, Hort. (N. 

 Veltchii, Hort.), is pale in color (blush- white) : fls. 2^ 

 in. across, with recurved segms. Gn. 75, p. 484. G.M. 

 54:742. G.C. III. 58:132. 



BB. Outer fls. opening after the inner ones. 



6. undulata, Herb. Bulb ovoid, to 1 in. diam., the 

 coverings membranaceous and pale: Ivs. 4-6, linear, 

 appearing with the fls., bright green, 12-18 in. long 

 and Hin. or less broad: peduncle slender, 12-18 in. 

 long, bearing a centrifugal 8-12-fld. umbel: fls. pale 

 pink, perianth, %in. or less long; segms. oblanceolate, 

 very narrow and much crisped. Kalahari region and 

 coast region, S. Afr. B.M. 369 (as Amaryllis undulata). 

 Gn. 76, p. 136. Var. major, Tratt. Perianth-limb larger, 

 less crisped. 



7. humilis, Herb. Bulb ovoid, to 1^ in. diam., the 

 coverings membranaceous: Ivs. about 6, appearing with 

 the fls., linear, bright green, channeled on the face, 

 about 1 ft. long and J^in. broad: scape or peduncle 

 often smaller than in the other kinds, J^-1J^ ft. high: 

 fls. bright pink or rose-red, 10-20 in an umbel, the 

 perianth J^in. or less long; segms. oblanceolate, acute, 

 crisped; stamens declined, the 3 longer about as long 

 as segms. Coast region, S. Afr. B.M. 726 (as Amaryl- 

 lis humilis). Gn. 21:200. Var. splendens, Hort., is 

 presumably the best form of this species. Fls. purple- 

 crimson. 



The following names are mostly important hybrids which in 

 many cases are more popular than the species: N. amdbilis (N. 

 pudicaxN. humilis), rosy, dark-striped. Var. grandifldra, Hort. 

 Van Tubergen, has larger fls. N. cdndida, Hort. Pure white, the 

 fls. 15-20, each about 2 in. diam., the segms. undulate: hardly dis- 

 tinguishable from N. flexuosa var. alba. Offered abroad. N. 

 crtspa, Hort. Thorburn, scarlet. N. elegans (N. flexuosa X N. 

 sarniensis var. rosea), pink. Var. carminata, cerise. Var. cseridea, 

 shaded blue. N. excettens, Moore (N. flexuosa X N. humilis var. 

 major), carmine rosy, dark-striped. N. excettens major tardifldra, 

 Hort.=N. Bowdenii. N. Gaiminii, Hort., is an erect-flowering 

 form of the sarniensis group, with large bright pink fls. "keeled 

 throughout with red:" fls. about 10 in an umbel, each 2 in. across. 

 N. Haylockii (N. curvifolia X N. flexuosa var. pulchella). One 

 of the oldest hybrids in cult. Raised by Wm. Herbert. The others 

 in this list are more modern. N. japdnica, Miq.=Lycoris radiata. 

 N. Meadowbankii (N. sarniensis X N. curvifolia var. Fothergillii). 

 N. O'Brienii (N. pudicaxN. sarniensis var. Plantii). Var. 

 cseridea. Van Tubergen, pale violet, tinged blue. N. tardifldra, 

 Hort. Van Tubergen, not accounted for by Baker. Fls. bright red 

 m Dec. N. Zorodster, Hort., is a garden hybrid between N. pudica 



and N. sarniensis var. corusca. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



L. H. B.f 



NERIUM (ancient name for oleander, supposed to 

 be from Greek neros, "moist," alluding to the places in 

 which it grows wild). Apocynaceae. The oleander is 

 an old-fashioned evergreen shrub known to everybody, 

 and cultivated everywhere in southern countries. In 



the North the oleander is a common house plant, being 

 grown in tubs for summer decoration, and ranking in 

 popularity with sweet bay and hydrangea. 



Oleanders are erect glabrous shrubs : Ivs. in whorls of 

 3, rarely 4 or 2, narrow, leathery, transversely feather- 

 veined: fls. showy, rose-red, white or yellowish, in 

 terminal cymes; calyx with many glands inside at the 

 base; corolla-tube cylindrical at the base; throat bell- 

 shaped and containing 5 wide or narrow teeth; lobes 

 twisted to the right; anthers 2-tailed at the base and 

 tapering at the apex into a long thread-like appendage; 

 style 1; ovaries 2, forming pods; seeds twisted. Spe- 

 cies probably 3, with varieties. Medit. region to Japan. 



The common species, so very widely cultivated, is 

 N. Oleander. It attains 7 to 15 feet, and blooms in 

 summer, the flowers being salver-shaped, five-lobed 

 when single, \y% to 3 inches across, and commonly 

 pink or white, though the colors range from white 

 through creamy white, blush, rose and copper-color, to 

 crimson and dark purple, with variegated forms. It is 

 of easy culture, and is well adapted to city conditions. 

 The chief troubles are scale and mealy-bug. The scale 

 should be sponged off; the mealy-bug is easily dislodged 

 by the hose. Sometimes a plant forms buds which 

 open poorly or not at all. This is often due to the 

 imperfect ripening of the wood. The flowers are borne 

 on the growth of the year, which should be well ripened 

 in June in order to set many strong buds. For this pur- 

 pose give the plants plenty of light and air, and water 

 more sparingly when the vegetative growth seems to 

 be finished. After flowering, give the plants less water. 

 Protect them from frost in winter; keep them, if neces- 

 sary, in a light shed. In April, prune back the old wood 

 which has borne flowers and give more warmth and 

 water. The ripened leading shoots can be rooted in a 

 bottle of water. Oleanders are poisonous, and some 

 persons have died from carelessly eating the flowers. 

 Cattle have been killed by eating the foliage. It is said 

 that in California the oleander is immune from the 

 depredations of the gopher. Oleanders in the East (H. 

 A. Siebrecht) : The following method of oleander culture 

 has been pursued by the writer with success. Propa- 

 gation is performed after the flowering period. Good- 

 sized cuttings are taken, and every one grows. When 

 rooted, the cuttings are potted in small pots and kept 

 barely alive over the winter. They will need scarcely 

 more attention than geraniums until February or 

 March, or whenever growth becomes more active. Later 

 in the spring, the young oleanders are planted outdoors 

 in the open ground, in good rich loam or garden soil. 

 (This is sometimes done with ivies or evonymus, but 

 the common method is to plunge the pots outdoors 

 during summer.) Take up the oleanders in September, 

 pot them and bring them indoors for their second 

 winter. The following spring the plants will bloom; but 

 they will not be shapely. The time has now arrived to 

 train them, either as bush plants or crown standards. Top 

 them at whatever height is desired, say 2 or 3 feet, and 

 the plants will make good crowns the same season (i.e., 

 their second summer). Do not allow the plant to bloom 

 the following spring (which is its third spring), and 

 the result will be a fine specimen in full flower for the 

 fourth summer. Oleanders in California (Ernest 

 Braunton): Oleanders are much grown in southern 

 California, and would be extremely popular were it not 

 for black and other scales, which seem to prefer them 

 to everything else. We have five colors here, perhaps 

 all of the same species white, light pink, dark pink, 

 scarlet and buff. Most of these colors, if not all, can be 

 had in both single and double forms. The writer has 

 never seen an oleander more than 20 feet high, but he 

 thinks they will grow larger. One Los Angeles man 

 planted the red variety twenty-seven years ago for 

 sidewalk trees. (For this purpose, if cleaned of scale 

 when necessary, the oleander is one of the very best.) 

 The trees are heavily pruned and topped every third 



