POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY, V ;255 



L 2. Single white, a slightly cream-coloured (==N- album^xN.lfla- 

 vescens). ''\ ::. '\ . . : . ^ ; ' 



. 3. The flesh-coloured, or pale .pink (-N. odorum, var. carneum.See 

 .plate 2032. . Curtis, Bot.^Magazine). . „•. "::..;l : . „:;. vo 

 4. Double rich pink; {^=N. plenum). .See plate 1799. Bot. ^Magazine. 

 S.yn. JST* indicum^ Mill ; N. zeylanicum^ Burm. % N: latifolium indicum 

 Commel). 



'-■ 5. Single crimson-— The species or variety described, as N. odorum.' 

 To students of Botany devoted to the microscopical examination of the 

 morphology of the plant I am here describing, Professor Bastin of 

 Philadelphia recommends the following parts as good examples for 

 microscopic section* :t-(1) The corky tissue ; (2) simple laticiferous 

 tissue, in contrast with the complex, i.e., articulated laticiferous tissue 

 foundJn sueh plants as Poppy and Dandelion ; (3) both the surfaces 6f 

 the leaves show stoma ta. j 



Apropos of the above quotation, under the second head, L may he con- 

 sidered a very cogent remark of Kerner's in his Natural History of 

 Plants (translated into English recently by Oliver, page 470, Vol. I), 

 which is to the following effect : — " There are many laticiferous tubes 

 in the oleander." I may add that what is true in this .connection Cf 

 N. oleander is equally true of N. odorum, in all its varieties- bearing 

 variously-coloured flowers. 



With regard to the general manner of branching in iVV odorum^ 

 Kerner has very accurate remarks to make, which are borne out by my 

 repeated observations of the severally coloured single and double- 

 flowered varieties visible in and around Bombay. This is what Kerner 



* says : — " In the oleander, when after " the Tall of "the " terminal flower, 

 the apical growth is terminated, the scarred apex of the main shoot is 

 over-topped by a whorl of three lateral shoots." This must~ be noted 

 as the prevailing characteristic of Nerium odorum. Although the usual 

 arrangement of leaves is in a whorl of three, sometimes solitary leaves 

 are seen. With regard to this disposition, the observation of Kerner is 

 worthy of the notice of the student of Morphology. It runs thus :— 

 iir If a whorl is composed of three leaves, and if the successive whorls be 

 displaced through one-sixth of the circumference as in oleander, six 



* Vide " laboratory Exercises in Botany,' 1 Philadelphia, 1895, . 



