1078 



NERIUM 



NERTERA 



NERIUM (ancient name for Oleander, supposed to 

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

 which it grows wild). Apocynacece. The Oleander is 

 an old-fashioned evergreen shrub known to everybody, 

 and cultivated everywhere in southern countries. The 

 Bermudas, especially, are famous for their Oleander 

 hedges. In the North the Oleander is a common house 

 plant, being grown in tubs for summer decoration, and 

 ranking in popularity after the sweet bay and hydrangea. 

 It attains 7-15 ft., and blooms in summer, the fls. being 

 salver-shaped, 5-lobed when single, l%-3 in. 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. 



The genus contains only 2 or 3 species. They are 

 glabrous shrubs: Ivs. in whorls of 3, rarely 4 or 2, nar- 

 row, leathery, transversely feather-veined: fls. in ter- 

 minal 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. 



Oleanders are of easy culture, and are well adapted to 

 city conditions. Their 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 fls. 

 are borne on the growth of the year, which should be 



1478. Spray of Oleander Nerium Oleander. 



well ripened in June in order to set many strong buds. 

 For this purpose 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 necessary, in a light shed. In April, prune back 

 the old wood which has borne fls. and give more warmth 



and water. The ripened leading shoots can be rooted in 

 a bottle of water. Oleanders are poisonous, and some 

 people have died from carelessly eating the fls. Cattle 

 have been killed by eating the foliage. E. S. Miller 

 writes: "We have good success in rooting ripe wood in 

 the winter. The cuttings remain 3 to 4 weeks in the 

 sand, with moderate bottom heat. They grow like weeds 

 when potted." y? -^ 



Oleanders in the J2ast. The Oleander is becoming 

 somewhat fashionable again, especially the double- 

 flowered variety of cerise color. The following method 

 of Oleander culture has been pursued by the writer 

 with success. Propagation is performed after the flow- 

 ering 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 un- 

 til February or March, or whenever growth becomes 

 more active. Later in the spring the young Oleanders 

 arc planted outdoors in the open ground, in good rich 

 loam or garden soil. (This is sometimes done with 

 ivies or euonymus, 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. 



H. A. SlEBRECHT. 



Oleanders in California. Oleanders are much grown, 

 in S. Calif, 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 15 ft. high, but he 

 believes they will grow larger. One Los Angeles man 

 planted the red variety thirteen years ago for sidewalk 

 trees. (For this purpose, if cleaned of scale when nec- 

 essary, the Oleander is one of the very best. ) The trees 

 are heavily pruned and topped each year. They are now 

 12 ft. high and 4-5 in. in diameter at base. Oleanders 

 need no attention here, and are as readily propagated 

 from hardwood cuttings as willow. They are very flor- 

 iferous, and the inflorescence comes out in large, heavy 

 heads, necessitating a close pruning to make them self- 

 supporting. ERNEST BRAUNTON. 

 A. Fls. not scented. 



Oleander, Linn. OLEANDER. ROSE BAY. (Another 



?lant called Rose Bay is Epilobium angusti folium.) Fig. 

 478. Lvs. in 2's or 3' s, lanceolate: appendages of the 

 anthers scarcely protruding: segments of the crown 

 3-4-toothed. Mediterranean region, Orient. Gn. 51, p. 

 81 (fine trees in vases). A.F. 10:265 (Bermuda shrub 

 with a spread of 25 ft.). L.B.C. 7:666 (var. Loddigesii, 

 with a variegated fl. and the appendages entire, ovate 

 and obtuse). JY. albiim, atropurpureum, carneum and 

 roseutn, Hort., are doubtless varieties. 



AA. Fls. scented. 



oddrum, Soland. SWEET-SCENTED OLEANDER. Lvs. 

 in 3's, linear-lanceolate: appendages of the anthers 

 protruding: segments of the crown 4-7, long and nar- 

 row. Persia, India, Japan. B.R. 1:74. B.M. 1799 and 

 2032. A less robust plant, with Ivs. commonly narrower 

 and more distant, and angled branches. In wild plants 

 the calyx-lobes of N. Oleander are spreading; of odorum 

 erect. Not advertised but cult. Has some range of 

 color and single and double forms. -\\r. M. 



NEETfiEA (Greek, lowly ; referring to the habit). 

 RuMacece. The Bead, or Coral Bead Plant (N. depressa) 

 is a hardy perennial Alpine or rock plant which forms a 

 dense mat of foliage covered with orange-colored, 

 translucent berries the size of a pea. The genus com- 



