nOGBAx;-; family. 273 



2. NEKIUM, OLEANDER. (The ancient Greek and Latin name.) 

 Leaves coriaceous, rigid, closely and transversely veiny. Flowers showy, in 

 terminal cymes, in summer, deep rose-color, or with white varieties, either 

 single or double. 



N. Oleander, the Olkaxder of common house-cnlture, from the Levant : 

 leaves lanceolate ; appendage surmounting the anthers scarcely protruding ; 

 flowers large, scentless. 



N. odbrum, Sweet 0. : less cult., from India, more tender ; leaves linear- 

 lanceolate ; appendage of the anthers protruding ; flowers fragrant. 



3. ECHITES. (Name from Greek word for u viper.) Plants from the 

 warm parts of America, one not rare as a conservatory climber, viz. 



E. SUav6olenS, or MASDEVfLLEA suaveolens, Chili Jessamine, a 

 slender woody-stemmed tall twiner, with thii\ oblong or ovate heart-shaped 

 pointed leaves, and slender peduncles bearing a few racemed very fragrant flow- 

 ers, the white corolla with ample 5-lobed border, 2' broad. 



4. PORSTEEONIA. (Named for an English botanfst, T. F. Forster.) 

 P. difformis, in low grounds from Virginia S. & W., is a barely woody 



twiner, the flowering branches herbaceous and downy ; leaves thin, oval-lan- 

 ceolate, pointed, or sometimes linear, narrowed into a petiole; flowers i' long, 

 in cymes, greenish-yellow, all summer. 



5. VINCA, PERIWINKLE. (Latin name, from a word meaning to bind, 

 from the thread-like stems.) y 



§ 1. TntJE Pekiwik'Kles, cult, from Europe, hardy or nearly so, smooth, trail- 

 ing ovei- the ground or creeping, mdy the short Jloweriny stents ascending, 

 with blue (or by variation white) flowers solitary in the axils, in spring or 

 early summer. 

 V. minor, Common Periwinkle, in all conntry-gardens, spreading freely 

 by the creeping sterile stems, evergreen, with ovate or oblong-ovate shining 

 leaves barely 1^' long, and almost truncate wedge-shaped lobes to the corolla : 

 fl. early spring. 



V. m^jor, Lakge P,, not qnite hardy N., a variety with variegated leaves 

 is most cultivated, larger than the first species and leaves rounder, the lobes of 

 corolla oliovate. 



V. herbaeea : not evergreen ; stems reclining and rooting ; leaves lance- 

 oblong, lobes of the more purple-blue corolla oblopg-obovate : fl. late spring. 

 § 2. Tropical. erect, somewhat woody at base: flowas produced all the senson. 

 V. rdsea, house and bedding plant from West Indies, with oblong-petioled 

 veiny leaves, and showy corolla with slender tube and very narrow orifice, rose- 

 purple, or white, with or without a pink eye. 



6. APOCYNUM, DOGBANE (to which the name in Greek refers), 

 INDIAN HEMP, from the use made of the bark. Fl. summer. TJ. 



A. androsaemifdlium. Spreading D. Along thickets, mostly N. : 

 branches forking and widely spreading; leaves ovate, petioled; corolla open 

 bell-shaped with spreading lobes. 



A. cannabinum, Common Indian Hkmp. Gravelly or wet banks of 

 streams : branches more erect ; leaves oblong, lance-oblong, ovate, or slightly 

 heart-shaped ; flowers more crowded and erect ; lobes of the corolla little 

 spreading. 



7. AMSONIA. (Named for a Mr. Charles Amson.) Low grounds chiefly 

 S. ; very leafy, 2° - 3° high, smooth or somewhat hairy, with rather small 

 flowers, in late spring. 



A. TabernBemontina. Leaves varying from ovate or lance-ovate to 

 lanceolate, acute at each end, pale beneath. 



A. eiliita. Leaves linear or linear-lanceolate, the margins and mostly the^ 

 stems beset with some scattered" bristles. 



