The Yellow Oleander is an ornamental plant often used for hedging that grows in large parts of the tropics. It has yellow trumpet-like flowers and a fruit the size of a conker. Inside is a single large seed. One is enough to kill you.
The poison from Yellow Oleander is similar to a drug used to treat heart beat irregularities, digoxin. Digoxin slows down the heart beat. An oleander seed is like 100 digoxin tablets in one container, and the effect on the heart is dramatic: it gets slower and slower, and then stops.
Oleander (Nerium oleander), also known as Rose-bay, is a shrub or small tree of the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium.
It is native to a broad area from the Mediterranean to China, where it typically occurs around dry stream beds. It grows to 2-6 m tall, with spreading to erect branches. The leaves are in pairs or whorls of three, narrow lanceolate, 10-20 cm long and 1-2 cm broad. The flowers are white, pink or yellow, 2.5-5 cm diameter, with a deeply 5-lobed corolla; they are often, but not always, sweetly scented. The fruit is a capsule 5 cm long, which splits open at maturity to release numerous downy seeds.
In the past, scented plants were sometimes treated as a distinct species N. odorum, but the character is not constant and it is no longer regarded as a separate taxon.
Oleander is one of the most poisonous plants and contains numerous toxic compounds, many of which can be deadly to humans in even small quantities. The most significant of these toxins are oleandrin and nerioside. They are present in all parts of the plant, but are most concentrated in the sap. Drying of plant materials does not eliminate the toxins.
Despite its toxicity, Oleander is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, valued for its large cymes of flowers, and in warmer areas as hedges and along highways. Over 400 cultivars have been named, with several additional flower colours not found in wild plants having been selected, including red, purple and orange; double-flowered cultivars are also common.
Oleander is deadly to rabbits, horses as well as humans, with as little as 100 g being enough to kill an adult horse. Plant clippings are especially dangerous to livestock, as they are sweet. Symptoms of a poisoned animal include severe diarrhea and abnormal heartbeat.
Click on the links below for more info:
Oleander
Nerium oleander and its toxins
Oleander toxicity
Management of acute yellow oleander poisoning
Copyright 2003-2006 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice
No comments:
Post a Comment