Tuesday 26 June 2012

Poisonous Beauty


When we built our house we planted a row of Oleanders along the retaining wall. The trees, now 20 years old, are a riot of white and pink flowers and the scent that pours from them is a mix of apricot and vanilla pie, almond essence and a hint of baby's talcum powder.  I only wish we had planted more and surrounded the whole house. The plant is ideal for our climate: drought resistant but able to survive a frost down to -10 degrees C. The only draw back is that it's toxic to mammals. Sheep, horses and cattle can die if they eat enough of the leaves, but animals know to stay well clear. Bees feeding on the oleander flowers are said to produce hallucinogenic honey, but I've never got my hands on any.  There is an urban myth that a pack of boy scouts used oleander twigs to roast their marshmallows over the camp fire and all were found dead the next day. No official records exist of such an occurrence but it shouldn't be ingested by humans. Herbalists use a poultice of the leaves for skin disorders. I wouldn't recommend trying this at home, as the sap is very irritant if you get it on your skin.  Research is underway to prove the efficacy of the plant extract in strengthening the immune system and the medical properties of Nerium Oleander are well known in the Muğla region where I live.  Dr. H. Ziya Özel, chief doctor at the State Hospital in the 1970s, claimed he used an extract of Oleander to cure cancer patients and he was famous in our county for many years, alternatively lauded as a genius and despised as a charlatan by the national press.




I just love it for it's perfume and colour and if it is proven to be a medical marvel, we'll be seeing lots more of it. 

http://www.drozel.org/eng/historical_background.htm

22 comments:

  1. What an interesting post. I never knew they were poisonous. They are so beautiful aren't they?

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    1. This year seems o be an especially good year for them. Must be the effect of the wet winter

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  2. I love the stuff, and am delighted that my French garden has some in. The walk from the house down into the village is lined with it, it looks gorgeous at the moment. I didn't know about the poisonous element though....no livestock on my land ( wild boar pretty close by sometimes though).

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    1. Ah, you have wild boar too. I had my first encounter of the year yesterday.

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  3. Oh, I love oleander but I had no idea it was potentially toxic, an irritant and a possible cure for cancer. Wow, that's a lot for a plant to deal with. :) I'll just enjoy the flowers, like you.

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  4. I love zakum too! The flowers are beautiful and the plants are amazingly resilient but I am also aware how poisonous they are. I for one am glad there is at least one that the cows don't munch on!
    PS Can I ask how you got the link to Binnur's Turkish Table? I can't see how you become a follower :) Thanks.

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    1. I copy and pasted the link into the "Blogs I Follow" box on my layout page. The only danger to cows is if the dried leaves get mixed up with their hay, Same for horses.

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  5. A lovely plant.
    We had it in France - a double pink - but had to bring it in every winter and have it again here.
    French friends used to joke about getting rid of people by using the twigs for kebabs!

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    1. The double pink is probably a hybrid, and more delicate.

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  6. I'll have a couple of jars of that honey, thanks!

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    1. If I ever find any, I'll put some aside. You'll have to come back and visit to eat it though!

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  7. Beautiful flowers and your wall must look amazingly gorgeous with those bursts of color......BUT I sure didn't know they were poisonous.

    Interesting post.....and myth about the Boy Scouts.
    Have a great day!!!!!

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    1. There is also a story of someone in the US committing suicide by using the leaves as a suppository. I left that out of the post.

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  8. Hello, Thank you once again for teaching me new things and giving me new insights. Peace.

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    1. Hope you get to see them in Bodrum some day.

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  9. Reminds of the olden days in Bitez - The Sultan restaurant had decked out the display fridge with zakum to make it look pretty. I quickly informed them it was poisonous - probably just in time.

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    1. I've had fruit served on oleander flowers before now.

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  10. . . we're lucky enough have them in the garden and masses of them thrive all around in the water gulley's and forest. This is a wonderful time of the year for them.

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  11. I hope we don't lose the native ones to road building

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  12. B to B, We are in Oleader central. Burgazada certainly has to be among one of the most beautiful concentrations of these lovely flowers. We have double flower oleander, and the COLORS - red, magenta, cream, pink, wine, - we could go on and on and we've only been here one day. Thanks for teaching about oleader's properties - we promise we won't make tea out of them. Only enjoy their beauty, abundance and heavenly frangrance.

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  13. Hope you are going to put lots of photos on your bog

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