1078 



NERIUM 



NERIUM (ancient name for Oleander, supposed to 

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

 which it grows wild). Apocyn&cece. 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-Iobed when single, lK-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 



The genus contains only 2 or 3 species. They are 

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

 row, leathery, tr.ansversely 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 riglit; anthers 2-tailed at the base and 



tapering at the apex into a I 

 style 1: ovaries 2, foniiintr ] 

 Oleandersareof easy .nil 

 city conditions. Their '-liiit 

 bug. The scale shoul.l li. - 

 is easily dislodged liy tin- 

 forms buds which open p( 



-like appendage; 

 < twisted. 

 e well adapted to 

 • scale and mealy 

 , the mealy bug 

 iietimes a plant 

 at all. This ' 



often due to the imperfect ripening of the wood. The fls. 

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



'»P^f 



1478. Spray of Oleandei — Nc 



I Olcandc 



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 Hs. and give more warmth 



NERTERA 



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." ^ jj_ 



Oleanders in the £ast. — 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- 



■ing period._Good-sized ctittings are taken, and every 

 ini'. are potted ' 



They 



one grows. When rooted, 

 small pots and kept barel\" 

 will need scarcely more ;ii 

 til February or March, nt ' _: m\t1i becomes 



more active. Later in the- ~i! my iL. vnn;,' Oleanders 

 are planted outdoors in the opfii 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. — Ole&TideTS 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 n-d variety thirteen years a;;o for sidewalk 

 ir..-. I F.ii- till- piii'iiMv,.. ii , I, ;,,!,,[ c.t -c-:ile when nec- 

 ,-.,,■ ■!., 1 .:, ,: ■!. , • - . I '. .1, 1 The trees 



.. Fls. not scented. 

 Oleander. Rose Bat. (Another 



av in Epih/bium aiiiiuslifolium.) Fig. 

 ■r.-;-^. hn, lat,-: .■'i,.!,, iidages of the 



with a spread td 'Z7t ft.). L.li.C'. 7;f>itO {\ht. Loddigesi 

 witli a variegated fl. and the appendages entire, ovat 

 and obtuse). JV. album, atropurpnreum, cameum an 

 roscH/n, Hort., are doubtles ' ' 



Fls. 



ited. 



oddnim, Soland. Sweet-scented Oleander. Lvs. 

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

 protrudins;: seirments of the crown 4-7, long and nar- 

 row. P.r-ii. In. ili. .T,,, an. B.R. 1:74. B.M. 1799and 

 2032. — A I' ' . : III., with lvs. commonly narrower 



and mor. ..-li-d branches. In wild plants 



thecalyx l.'i.. - .11 \ ''. 'M../fr are spreading; of orforHm 

 erect. N..t ...Urriist-.l l.iit cult. Has some range of 

 color and single and double f.>riiis. -^ jj_ 



BTEETfiEA (Greek, loicbi : referring tr, the habit). 

 SubiAce.e. The Bead, or Coral Bead Plant ( .V. depres.'ia ) 

 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- 



