694 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Nerium Oleander L. 



Leaves lanceolate; coriaceous, rigid, closely and transversely veiny; flowers 

 in terminal cymes, rose-color or white; anthers scarcely protruding. 



Distribution. Native to the Levant, naturalized in Southern Europe, and 

 Southwest United States. Frequently cultivated in greenhouses. 



Poisonous properties. John Smith, in his Domestic botany, says, with 

 reference to its poisonous properties : 



It grows abundantly in the valley of the Jordan, and when in flower is very beautiful. The 

 whole of the plant is poisonous, and it is recorded that soldiers in Spain were poisoned through 

 their meat being roasted on spits made of the peeled stem. 



Prof. Chesnut states that stock are occasionally poisoned by eating the 

 leaves, as the plant grows wild in northern Mexico and is abundant in the 

 Southwest. The oleander is a heart stimulant acting like digitalis. Dr. S. 

 Wateff recently reported a case in which gastro-enteritis occurred ; nausea, 

 vomiting and irritation were prominent symptoms. He also reports the odor 

 of the flower as poisonous. 



Fig. 399. Oleander (Xcriinn Oleander). At the left, a stamen; 

 //, thread enlarged; an, cells of anther; elongated end of connective. 

 At the right, flowering branch. Whole plant poisonous. (From 

 Traite de Botaniqtie.) 



Prof. F. W. Wilson of the Arizona Station 1 has recently brought together 

 the literature on the subject of oleander poisoning, also giving some of his 

 own experiments. 



Prof. Wilson finds that both the pink and white varieties are poisonous. He 

 conducted some experiments with two horses, a cow, a mule, and three sheep : 



1 Bull. Ariz. E.\-f. Sta. 59:381. 



