OLEANDER
(Nerium oleander)
Appearance
A robust, evergreen, leggy shrub with bitter and highly
poisonous sap. Has dark green lance-shaped leaves in pairs or threes.
Pink, white or sometimes purple flowers appear between May and July.
Fruits are long and cylindrical releasing numerous feathery seeds.
Habitat
Common all over Cyprus along water courses and in damp
ravines from sea-level to 3,000 ft. Also commonly used as an
ornamental plant, particularly along roadsides.
Uses and Properties
The milky, poisonous juice of the leaves and flowers are
rich in salicine and other alkaloids. Preparations from the plant are
used as a cardiant, while infusions are used externally against
psoriasis. Oleander leaves shoved into the entrance of a rats' burrow will
kill the occupants as they eat the leaves in an effort to escape.
