Oleander 



817 



lanceolate, 5 to 6 mm. long and taper-pointed; the showy corolla is salverform, 

 3 to 4.5 cm. across, its tube narrowly beU-shaped, the lobes spreading, of various 

 shades of rose and purple or white; the stamens are inserted on the corolla-tube; 

 the anthers are appendaged at the base; there are 2 carpels. The fruit consists 

 of 2 narrow, erect follicles i to 2 dm. long. Seeds oblong, flattened, villous. 



As an ornamental species the Oleander has been used for ages; in warmer 

 countries it is a common garden and hedge plant and has been planted as a shade 



Fig. 747. — Oleander. 



tree in southern California. Its most luxuriant growth in America is probably in 

 Bermuda. A great many forms have been developed, as the size, color and double- 

 ness of the flowers. The leaves and bark are poisonous. 



The genus consists of about 3 species, all natives of the warmer portion of the 

 Old World. Nerium odorum Solander, a very fragrant flowering shrub from Asia, 

 is occasionally seen in conservatories. The name is the ancient Greek name of 

 the Oleandgr, the generic tjrpe, and is supposed to have reference to the moist 

 situations in which it grows naturally. ■ 



