Oleander

Oleander (Nerium Oleander), "a small shrub of a gallant shewe," as Gerard terms it, is a member of the periwinkle family (Apocynaeea?), native to the Mediterranean region, but long cultivated in English greenhouses for its pretty rose-coloured or white flowers. It has a very poisonous milky juice. There is a ring of fringed scales in the throat of the corolla-tube; the five anthers are hairy, and each of the numerous seeds is also crowned with a tuft of hairs. The leaves are leathery, opposite, lanceolate, and olive-tinted, whence it derives its name.