Nerium oleander (Oleander)

The oleander (Nerium oleander) belongs to the family Apocynaceae. All of the parts of the plant are poisonous.

Oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree. It has lanceolate, leathery, about 2.4 to 4 inches long dark green leaves that are normally three and exuberant ordered at the branch. The flowers are several in clusters. The hermaphroditic flowers are fivefold. The floweris white yellow or various shades of pink to violet depending on the variety and breeding. The oldest leaves turn yellow and the oleanders throws them off after some time. Are many leaves after some time yellow, there is a lack of nutrients, the oleander is one of the strong eaters. Defoliation in the interior of the plant shows usually the lack of water.

Oleander has a large distribution area in a strip of Morocco and Spain over the whole Mediterranean region, the Middle East, India and China. But it is grown throughout the world in the tropics and subtropics as an ornamental, also in Brazil. Our oleanders bloom pink and filled.

Flower of Nerium oleander in December 2009.

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Updated by Joachim Jaeck on March 10th, 2010