🌸 Flower
ANX-FLOWER-0000033
Oleander
Nerium oleander
Oleander (Nerium oleander), an evergreen shrub of the Apocynaceae family, is a drought-tolerant Mediterranean ornamental widely planted for hedging despite being one of the most poisonous garden plants known.
Log in to request a quotation- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Plant type
- Evergreen shrub
- Bloom color
- Pink, red, white, or yellow (cultivar-dependent)
- Bloom season
- Summer through fall in warm climates
- Mature height
- 200-600 cm cm
- Sun requirements
- Full sun
- Fragrance
- Some cultivars mildly fragrant, others scentless
- Native region
- Mediterranean Basin through the Middle East and southern Asia to India
Growing
Growing Conditions
- Water requirements
- Drought-tolerant once established; tolerates poor, dry soils.
- Climate requirements
- Warm temperate to subtropical; frost-sensitive, native to semi-arid Mediterranean stream beds.
- Soil types
- Adaptable to poor, well-drained soils; tolerant of salinity.
- Propagation method
- Stem cuttings, air layering, seed
Ecology
Pollinators & Toxicity
- Pollinator value
- Visited by bees and butterflies for nectar, though flowers of many cultivars are sterile or low in nectar reward.
- Toxicity
- Extremely toxic to dogs, cats, and horses (ASPCA); all parts contain cardiac glycosides that cause drooling, abdominal pain, diarrhea, colic, depression, and death, and it is also highly poisonous to humans and livestock if ingested.
Use
Uses & Economic Importance
- Uses
- Ornamental hedging and roadside/median landscaping, erosion and soil stabilization on slopes; historically used as insecticide and rodenticide preparations
- Economic importance
- Widely grown ornamental with over 400 cultivars used in landscaping across warm regions worldwide; economically notable also for the severe poisoning risk it poses to livestock and pets grazing near plantings.
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