0351 



OLEANDER. 



Family: APOCYNACEAE. 



Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, MONOGYNY. 



The large-flowered oleander, Nerium grandiflorum, is a tree recently introduced 

 into conservatories in the north of France. It appears to be a variety of the Nerium 

 odor alum of Lamarck enhanced by cultivation. It's incontestably one of the most 

 beautiful acquisitions of recent times. The first specimen, the progenitor of all those seen 

 in our gardens today, was brought to Paris in 1809. It had been raised in the gardens of 

 the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The leaves are quite similar to those of the common 

 oleander. The flower is much larger and is fragrant; all of its components have been 

 converted into petals. 



FLOWERS: from June until September. 



RANGE: the East Indies. Grown in open ground in the south of France. 



The common oleander, Nerium oleander, Linn., is a large evergreen shrub that 

 grows eight or ten feet tall. The leaves are opposite, often ternate, entire, lanceolate, stiff, 

 and dark green. The flowers are odorless and have a fringed crown inside. The calyx is 

 persistent, very small, with five sharp, linear sections. The corolla is monopetalous, 

 funnel-shaped, with a wide tube and longer than the calyx. Its limb is broad and deeply 

 indented into five blunt, oblique segments. There are five stamens inserted into the tube 

 of the corolla. Their anthers are convergent, ciliate, and terminate in silky tufts. The fruit 

 consists of two conical follicles that open from top to bottom and contain seeds that 

 overlap one another like fish scales. 



FLOWERS: from June until September. 



RANGE: Spain, the Levant, and Provence. I've found it to be very plentiful at 

 Dardenne, close to Toulon. 



