Neriums, for those of you who might not now, are part of the Apocyanae family along with Adeniums and Plumerias.
However, unlike Adeniums and Plumerias, they can handle colder temperature zones outside (Zone 8, although some have cultivars claim as far as zone 7b). To my knowledge, they are the cold hardiest trees/shrubs of the family in cultivation.
Interestingly, despite their superficial similarity to Plumerias, they are actually closer to Adeniums. So close, in fact, that they are part of the same subfamily.
I did more digging, and it turns out, they even have the same chromosome count, n=22. (Plumerias do not share this count). So, unlike other hybrids, like mules, a hypothetical Nerium x Adenium hybrid should be totally fertile.
So, although crosses outside of a genus are often rare and may take hundreds or thousands of attempts to produce a viable offspring, this matching is as ideal as is possible, and, if succesful, could produce fertile hybrids with the hardiness of Neriums and the aesthetic characteristics of Adeniums.
Now, is anyone interested in trying this experiment?
P.S
Ideally the Oleander parent would be a hardy variety.
caesarg88
caesarg88
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