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Oleander
One of the most poisonous common landscape plants - an evergreen flowering hedge planted everywhere in warm climates, whose every part, including the smoke, can be deadly. Recognize it, keep it from children, pets, and livestock, and never burn it.
Safety notes DEADLY POISON - never eat, taste, or plant where children, pets, or livestock can reach it. Every part contains cardiac glycosides that disrupt the heart; even a small amount can be fatal. The SMOKE from burning it is toxic, and stems must NEVER be used as skewers or stirrers. It is a very common evergreen hedge in warm climates. Keep clippings from animals, never burn it, and wear gloves. If ingestion is suspected, call poison control / emergency services immediately.
Overview
Oleander (Nerium oleander) is a strange paradox: one of the most poisonous plants a person is likely to encounter, and also one of the most commonly planted. Across warm climates it lines highway medians, screens parking lots, and fills yards as a tough, drought-proof, evergreen flowering hedge covered in pink, white, or red blooms. And yet every part of it - leaves, flowers, stems, seeds, sap, and nectar - contains cardiac glycosides (chiefly oleandrin) that disrupt the heart, and ingesting even a small amount can be fatal to a person, child, pet, or grazing animal.
What makes oleander especially important to know is how its danger reaches beyond eating it. The smoke from burning it is toxic, its stems must never be used as skewers or stirring sticks (the sap and wood carry the same cardiac glycosides as the leaves), and even the water a cut stem has stood in can carry enough poison to harm. Because it is so widespread, the goal of this identification and safety guide isn't to grow it - it's to recognize oleander on sight, understand the many ways it can cause harm, keep clippings and cut flowers away from children and animals, and never, ever add it to a fire. If ingestion is ever suspected, treat it as an emergency.
The one thing to knowOleander (Nerium oleander) is a strange paradox: one of the most poisonous plants a person is likely to encounter, and also one of the most commonly planted.
Quick facts
For identification. Not a growing guide.
- Height
- 10 ftRange: 6–20 ft
- Spread
- 8 ftRange: 5–12 ft
- Cold
- Killed by frostdamaged below 15°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 115°F
- Life cycle
- Perennial, lives about 30 years
- Habitat
- Full sun · Part sun, well-drained soil
Through the year
A field guide through time
Explore the stages to recognize this plant throughout its life.
Stage 1 of 3 · The recurring year
Evergreen shrub (identify & avoid)
Mar to Oct, every year
Know this stage
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Leathery lance-shaped leaves in whorls of three
Oleander is a large evergreen shrub with narrow, leathery, lance-shaped leaves that typically grow in WHORLS OF THREE around the stem, with a prominent pale midvein. Cut stems exude a sticky, milky-clear sap. It is planted everywhere in warm climates - highway medians, hedges, parking lots, yards. Learn its leaf-and-whorl profile so you recognize it, and never handle it without gloves or let the sap contact your mouth or eyes.
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Keep clippings and stems away from people and animals
Never let oleander clippings, leaves, or prunings reach livestock, horses, or pets - a surprisingly small amount is lethal, and animals have died from eating trimmings tossed over a fence. NEVER use oleander stems as roasting/cooking skewers or to stir food or drink, and never add it to a fire or brush pile you intend to burn: the smoke is toxic to inhale.
Months are typical seasonal windows; climate, variety, and plant age can shift them.
Hazards
Livestock & Pet Poisoning from ClippingsSeverity High DisordernowSeason: year-roundClippings or fallen leaves within reach of animals; dried oleander in hay; a fence line where prunings might be tossed; sudden illness in animals with access to the plant.
Clippings or fallen leaves within reach of animals; dried oleander in hay; a fence line where prunings might be tossed; sudden illness in animals with access to the plant.
A veterinary emergency with no simple antidote - call a veterinarian immediately; prevention (keeping every part away from animals) is far more reliable than treatment.
Keep all clippings, leaves, and prunings completely away from animals; never dispose of oleander near pastures, paddocks, or hay; fence animals away from planted shrubs and remove oleander from grazed areas.
A common cause of animal death: horses, cattle, and pets are readily poisoned by even a small quantity of oleander leaves or clippings, including DRIED leaves in hay or trimmings discarded near a paddock or fence.
Poisoning by Ingestion (deadly)Severity High DisordernowSeason: year-roundAny ingestion of leaves, flowers, seeds, or cut-stem water; symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, and irregular or slowed heartbeat - a medical emergency.
Any ingestion of leaves, flowers, seeds, or cut-stem water; symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, and irregular or slowed heartbeat - a medical emergency.
Suspected ingestion is an EMERGENCY - call poison control / emergency services (or a vet) immediately; do not wait for symptoms. Treatment is urgent supportive medical/veterinary care for heart-rhythm effects.
Recognize it and keep it away from children, pets, and livestock; never eat, taste, or pick any part; keep cut flowers and vase water out of reach; and remove it from play areas, pet yards, and pastures.
The hazard is lethal poisoning of people or animals: every part contains cardiac glycosides (oleandrin) that disrupt the heart, and even a small amount - a few leaves, cut-stem water, or nectar - can be fatal. Its danger is amplified by how common and ordinary-looking it is.
Toxic Smoke & Skewer HazardSeverity High DisordernowSeason: year-roundOleander added to a bonfire, brush pile, or fireplace; anyone using a leafy stem to skewer or stir food or drink; clippings burned during yard cleanup.
Oleander added to a bonfire, brush pile, or fireplace; anyone using a leafy stem to skewer or stir food or drink; clippings burned during yard cleanup.
For smoke inhalation or suspected poisoning from a stem, seek emergency medical care immediately; prevention (never burn, never use the stems) is the only reliable safeguard.
NEVER burn oleander or its clippings; never use its stems for cooking, skewering, or stirring; bag prunings as yard waste and dispose of them without burning.
Oleander is dangerous beyond eating it: burning the plant releases toxins in the SMOKE that can poison people who inhale it, and using the stems as roasting skewers, cooking sticks, or drink stirrers puts the sap and wood - which carry the same cardiac glycosides as the leaves - straight into food and drink.
Grower tips
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