It can be seen in parks, gardens and along rodesides. The plant is widely used as an ornamental and border plant. It is found in Spain, Morocco, the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, India, Central China, Ethiopia and Niger, where it is often grown outdoors. The white oleander flower is native to the Mediterranean region-southeastern Eurasia and parts of Africa. This is a reference to the toxin contained in the plant. Other theories hypothesize an etymological link to the Greek compound word ollyo, which means “I kill”, and aner, which means “man”. Some sources link it to the Latin wold olea which stands for an olive tree (due to the resemblance of the two plants). On the other hand, the flower’s common name, oleander, is of uncertain origin. Namely, the plant’s natural habitat is along water basins-rivers and streams. The origin of the Latin name Nerium is found in the Greek word nerion, which is related to another word, neros, meaning water. It owes its taxonomic name to Linnaeus, who named it in 1753. The flower has an interested and a little complicated etymology. In India, it is popular under the common names kaner and bitti. The Greeks used three names for this flower: nerion, rhododendron, and rhododaphne. The white oleander flower is also known as rose bay. The fruit structure is composed of two long pods which contain silky-haired seeds. Every part of the plant is poisonous, skin contact can cause irritation and, if ingested, can be fatal.

The plant produces a poisonous, milky juice.

The leaves are richly green, lance-shaped and opposite. The shrubs can grow from 1 to 6 meters tall and from 1 to 3 meters wide. Apart from the white oleander flower, other varieties of the plant have flowers which can be pink, red, peach, salmon or pale yellow. They can be single or double, and bloom from late spring to late summer. The flowers are five-petalled, whorled, with a subtle sweet scent, growing abundantly in terminal clusters. White oleander ( Nerium oleander, white) is a flower of a rapidly growing evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae and the genus Nerium.

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