230 
THE OLEANDER. 
striped with red, it may not, however, be the same variety as the one introduce 
by Mr. Lane, in which the sanguineous hue preponderates. It may be worl 
inquiring, therefore, whether such a plant as that described by Miller still exisi 
either in the country denoted as producing it, or in European collections. ! 
The opinions of botanists regarding the different Neriums which have bee 
imported to this country are much at variance, as to whether they ought to \i 
considered species or merely varieties ; and the confusion of synonymes which h| 
arisen through this has tended much to increase the difficulty of discovering whic 
kind an author really intends by any of them. f 
It matters little, in a cultural point of view, whether they are strictly varietil 
or species : they have gained the popular name of Oleander in common, and j 
would be difficult now to limit its signification to any one of them. They are a! 
beautiful plants, inhabiting similar stations, and requiring the same kind of treat 
ment. Even in their natural haunts they are remarkable for their magnificenci 
A writer on the plants which inhabit the coast of Africa says, “ In the summ(j 
season, when all the more delicate plants have been dried up beneath the scorchint 
sun, there is still the Oleander, with its brilliant bunches of rosy flowers, b| 
which are traced from afar the courses of the rivers, on the banks of which 1 
loves to dwell, and those humid spots which, from accidental circumstances, beinjl 
never dried up, are then a kind of vegetable Oases.” 
The conclusions which a cultivator must unavoidably deduce from thes 
observations upon its natural habitat are palpable, and well confirmed in practici 
We usually find a rich soil in the vicinity of rivers — and a rich loamy earth prove 
the best for the culture of the Nerium. But it is chiefly because it deliglii 
in, and in fact demands, a degree of moisture that would be pernicious t| 
many other individuals, that it is met with in its most flourishing state upon th 
banks of streams, where its vigorous roots can penetrate ooze and mire to thi 
water’s edge, and find a copious fund of fluid constantly flowing gently aroun I 
them *, and it is this fondness or necessity of the plant for an abundant provision c 
water, that has induced the grower to place beneath the pots capacious feeders ful 
of water, or the drainings from the dunghill, so soon as the roots have passes, 
throughout the soil in the pot in which it is intended the plant should bloom. 
Again, they are found fully exposed to a scorching sun ; and under artificia 
management there is no point more important than a good command of light. Ai 
abundant supply of water without strong light would be as ruinous as a blazing 
sun with an inefficient supply of moisture. It is true we cannot rule the sky an( 
chase away the clouds, but we may prevent other things from obscuring the ligh 
of the sun ; we may do away with the shade of trees, walls, and canvass, anci 
keep the glass perfectly clean. Those plants constantly immured in a gloomy 
shady situation, produce flowers that are deficient in colour, less redolent with thei: 
pleasant cinnamon odour, and more fugacious than those disclosed under a brigb: 
sun. We find also that a temperature gradually reduced from that of a moderatelj 
