Nerium oleander oleander

Deep pink oleander blossoms at the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Building near Arbutus ‘Marina’ and rosemary. Sairus Patel, 8 Jul 2019

Oleander leaf, flower. From: Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino, An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees

Common as a screening shrub with colorful white, pink, or red flowers. Is resistant to neglect and can be grown as a tree. Four-inch seed pods are generously packed with what seems to be a disproportionate amount of fluff for traveling on the breezes. Leaves and flowers and fruit are poisonous but presumably taste pretty bad judging from the fact that they are grown in some school yards. The tree form can be seen behind Building 100 (with the lemon-scented gums) and at the intersections of Welch Road and Pasteur Drive. There is a low hedge on Dueña Street by the Old Union and a tall hedge at 727 Mayfield Avenue.

Name derivation: Nerium – the Gk name for this plant; oleander – from oleandra, the Italian name for olive, referring to the olive-like leaves.