Nerium oleander L.

Family: APOCYNACEAE

Genus: Nerium

Catalan common name: Baladre. Llorer rosa.

Spanish common name: Adelfa.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): South Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal.

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Garden plants. Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Gardens and sometimes subespontaneous.

Description: This plant is a bush that can grow into a small tree. Leaves are lanceoleate and can reach up to 20 cm long, in groups of three at each stem node, slightly leathery with a simple margin. The flowers are rose coloured with five petals, 3-4 cm wide. The fruits are elongated and form seeds with a plumule. This species only lives in the Pitiusses, generally in streams and torrents. In the rest of the islands it is often used in ornamental landscaping and can be found in variations with white flowers, which are often sterile, as the stamens have transformed into petals. Flowers during the month of May and during the summer.