Nerium oleander L.

അരളി

Family : Apocynaceae

Synonym : Nerium indicum Mill.

Common Names : Arali, Kanaveeram, Suprasam, Indian oleander, Common oleander, Rose bay

Flowering Period : November-May

Distribution : From Mediterranean through Persia, Afghanistan to West Himalayas, cultivated elsewhere

Habitat : Grown as ornamental plant

Uses : Oleander is a very poisonous plant, containing a powerful cardiac toxin and should only be used with extreme caution. The leaves and the flowers are cardiotonic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant and sternutatory. A decoction of the leaves has been applied externally in the treatment of scabies and parasitic skin worms. An oil prepared from the root bark is used in the treatment of leprosy and skin diseases of a scaly nature. The plant is used as a rat poison.

Key Characters :

Nerium oleander is an erect evergreen shrub. Leaves linear-lanceolate, tapering at both ends. Flowers white, pink or dark red, single or double in cultivated, form, fragrant. Calyx, divided into 5 linear, acute lobes,. Corolla tube, hairy within, ending in five twisted petals. Stamen included. Ovary with two distinct carpels, style filiform, thickened upward; stigma two lobed.