Oleanteri – Nerium oleander

Branches are glabrous and exude sticky latex when cut. Young branches are green. Leaves are usually in whorls of three, 10-15 x 1-2 cm, linear-lanceolate, tapering at both ends, acuminate, thick, leathery, midrib prominent, nerves numerous, petiole 5-7.5 mm long. Flowers are white, pink or dark red, single or double, fragrant, 3-4 cm across, peduncle and pedicel hairy, bracts small, 5-7.5 mm long. Calyx is ca. 6 mm long, divided into 5 linear, acute lobes. Corolla tube is 1.8 cm long, hairy within, throat narrow, ending in five twisted petals, tips rounded. At the throat of the corolla there is a corona of 5 scales cleft into 4-7 linear segments. Stamens have short filaments, anthers adhering to stigma, connectives hairy, produced upward into long thread-like hairy appendages. Ovary has two distinct carpels, style filiform, thickened upward; stigma two lobed. Fruit is 12-20 cm x 7 mm, composed of a pair of follicles that split along one side to release the seeds. The seeds are oblong, with a plume of hairs at one end.