Greening - Tree Labels with QR Codes (155)

Scientific Name : Nerium oleander L.
Common Name : Oleander, Common Oleander
Chinese Name : 夾竹桃
Family : APOCYNACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species

Anecdotes on plants

Origins	Native to the Mediterranean region and Middle East.
Application	Oleander is widely introduced into different countries for ornamental purposes. In Hong Kong, the species is always planted in parks and gardens in view of its exquisite and long blooming. The endless and glamorous blossoms help embellish the city with creating a picturesque and graceful urban landscape. Oleander requires relatively lower maintenance cost, with fewer concerns of pest and disease problems, undemanding on soil types, and excellent tolerances to drought and infertile soils. Coupled with its remarkable tolerance to air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, it is broadly planted on roadsides and highways for the sake of greening and phytoremediation. Comparable with other Apocynaceae plants such as Cerbera manghas (Cerbera), Oleander is extremely toxic and the result of misingestion can be drastic. However, the proper ingestion with careful control of amount is medicinally effective to treat diseases, such as cardiac illness, cancer and asthma. In addition, the green dye extracted from its flowers are anti-inflammatory and can attenuate skin diseases. Its leaves are medicinally useful to cure heart diseases while the roots can treat cancer, ulcers and leprosy. In respect of its toxicity, the plant is often used for expelling pests. Its sap can be processed into rat poisons. The extracts from the leaves are insecticidal and commonly used for expelling sugarcane mites and citrus leafminers, which are devastating to crop yields.
Meanings of name	The generic name Nerium is derived from the Greek word nerion (moist), referring to its demand for moist soils. The specific epithet oleander describes its leaves akin to the leaves of olive tree.

Origins

Native to the Mediterranean region and Middle East.

Application

Oleander is widely introduced into different countries for ornamental purposes. In Hong Kong, the species is always planted in parks and gardens in view of its exquisite and long blooming. The endless and glamorous blossoms help embellish the city with creating a picturesque and graceful urban landscape.

Oleander requires relatively lower maintenance cost, with fewer concerns of pest and disease problems, undemanding on soil types, and excellent tolerances to drought and infertile soils. Coupled with its remarkable tolerance to air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter, it is broadly planted on roadsides and highways for the sake of greening and phytoremediation.

Comparable with other Apocynaceae plants such as Cerbera manghas (Cerbera), Oleander is extremely toxic and the result of misingestion can be drastic. However, the proper ingestion with careful control of amount is medicinally effective to treat diseases, such as cardiac illness, cancer and asthma. In addition, the green dye extracted from its flowers are anti-inflammatory and can attenuate skin diseases. Its leaves are medicinally useful to cure heart diseases while the roots can treat cancer, ulcers and leprosy.

In respect of its toxicity, the plant is often used for expelling pests. Its sap can be processed into rat poisons. The extracts from the leaves are insecticidal and commonly used for expelling sugarcane mites and citrus leafminers, which are devastating to crop yields.

Meanings of name

The generic name Nerium is derived from the Greek word nerion (moist), referring to its demand for moist soils. The specific epithet oleander describes its leaves akin to the leaves of olive tree.

Traits for identification

Growing habit	Evergreen tree.
Height	To 6 m tall.
Stem	Bark grey, containing sap.
Leaves	Simple leaves 3-4 arranged in a whorl. Blade narrowly elliptic, leathery, apex acuminate or acute, base cuneate or decurrent, midvein prominent abaxially, net veins dense and observable abaxially.
Flowers	Cymes terminal, branched. Flowers funnel-shaped, petals 5 or cultivated into double-flowered, colours many, often purplish red, pink, white, salmon, or yellow.
Fruits	Follicles cylindric, dry and split when ripe.
Flowering period	April to September in Hong Kong.
Fruiting period	/

Remarks

Scientific names from other databases :
― Flora of China : Nerium oleander Linnaeus.
― Plants of the World Online : Nerium oleander L.

Oleander, Common Oleander

Anecdotes on plants

Traits for identification

Remarks

Reference