Nerium oleander L  

Evergreen shrubs . Leaves opposite or whorled . Flowers relatively large , showy , in terminal racemes . Corolla infundibuliform with a corona of laciniate appendages at the throat . Stamens epipetalous , inserted half way up the corlla tube ; anthers longer than filaments , attached at the middle to the stigma and with apical , long , hairy appendages twisted around each other . Follicles paired . Seeds densely hairy and with an apical tuft of hairs .

Of its 2 ( -3 ) species , it is represented by one species in Saudi Arabia .

1. Nerium oleander L. , Sp . Pl .: 209 ( 1753 ) . Plate Apocyn . 5 .
= Nerium mascatense A. DC . ( 1844 ) .

Arabic Name : Dhifla
English Name : Oleander

Much branched shrub up to about 3 - 4 m tall .
Leaves opposite or whorled , leathery thick , shortly petiolate , lanceolate , tapering at both ends , up to c
. 15 x 2 cm , prominent - nerved , entire , acute .
Flowers usually pink but variable from white to rose - red , ( single in wild forms often double in cultivated forms ) .
Calyx small , linear - lobed .
Corolla tube c
. 20 mm long with a corona of 5 scales at the throat ; lobes obevate , each c .
as long as the tube ; fragrant .
Stamens included ; apical anther - appendages slender , twisted .
Follicles up to c . 20 x 2 cm .
Seeds hairy , oblong - ellipsoid , c .
6 mm long with an apical tuft of hairs about as long as a seed itself .

Saudi Arabia : Patchily encountered as wild populations .
Distribution : Trop . Africa , SW Asia . Introduced elsewhere .
Note : A very poisonous plant . Widely cultivated as an ornamental .