NE RINE\ 



191 



ne'rium. 



Little annual and perennial plants, 

 natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 which will grow in any light loamy 

 soil; hut which require protection 

 from frost. 



Nkmopanthes. — Celastrinece, or 

 AquifoliacecB. — The new name for 

 Ilex canadensis. 



Nemo'phila. — Hydrophyllacets. 

 — Beautiful little annual plants, na- 

 tives of California, that require the 

 usual treatment of similar plants. See 

 Californian Annuals, and An- 

 nuals, p. 16. 



Nepe'nthes. — Cytinece. — The 

 Chinese Pitcher-plant. There are 

 two species, in common cultivation, 

 one a native of China, and the other 

 of Ceylon ; both of them being 

 marsh plants, and requiring the pot 

 in which they grow to stand in a 

 saucer full of water. 2V. distilla- 

 tbria grows above eight feet high, 

 and it shows a tendency to curl 

 its tendrils round other plants, or any 

 object within its reach, so as to sup- 

 port its pitchers, which are at the ex- 

 tremity of its tendrils. Both species 

 should be grown in a peaty soil, and 

 they both require the heat of a stove. 

 Neither the flowers nor the fruit have 

 the slightest beauty to recommend 

 them. Some new pitcher plants 

 which are said to be distinct species 

 have been recently introduced. 



Ne'peta Labiates. — Catmint. 



Hardy herbaceous plants of no beauty, 

 which grow freely, in any common 

 soil. 



Ne'rine\ — Amaryllidaceae. — 

 Showy bulbous-rooted plants, the 

 type of which is the Guernsey Lily, 

 and which are natives of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, China, and Japan. The 

 Guernsey lily is a native of Japan, 

 and the reason why it has obtained its 

 English name is said to be, that a ship 

 laden with these bulbs and other 

 plants from China, was wrecked on 

 the coast of Guernsey ; and that the 



bulbs being washed on shore took 

 root in the sandy soil of the beach, 

 and flourished there so remarkably as 

 to be supposed to be natives of tbe 

 island. Whether this story be true 

 or not, it is quite certain that for 

 nearly two hundred years these bulbs 

 have been cultivated in Guernsey with 

 the greatest success, growing freely in 

 the open air, and producing abund- 

 ance of offsets every year, from which 

 the English market is supplied. In 

 England the bulbs are generally 

 planted in spring, in pots of very 

 sandy loam, and placed in some win- 

 dow or other situation where they 

 will have plenty of light : they flower 

 in September and October, and as soon 

 as they have flowered the bulbs are 

 generally thrown away, as they are 

 said never to flower well the second 

 year. This is, however, entirely the 

 fault of the grower, as if they were 

 planted in a well-drained sunny 

 border in the open ground, and al- 

 lowed to mature their new bulbs every 

 year by the agency of the leaves, there 

 is no doubt but they would live as 

 long as any of the kinds of Narcissi, 

 and flower as freely. The bulbs 

 might be protected in winter by a 

 layer of dead leaves, or litter from a 

 cowhouse ; and the bed, which should 

 be of light sandy soil, should be 

 occasionally manured in spring by a 

 layer of old cow-dung. 



Ne x rium. — Apocynece. — The Ole- 

 ander, or Rose Laurel. There are 

 three distinct species of Nerium, 

 besides several varieties. The first 

 of these is the common Oleander, a 

 native of Italy, but which is generally 

 kept in a greenhouse in England ; the 

 second, which is called N. flavescens, 

 has yellow flowers ; and the third, JV. 

 odorum, which is a native of India, 

 is a stove plant. The greenhouse 

 species and their varieties (to which may 

 be added JV. splendens, supposed to be 

 a hybrid between JV. oleander and 



