Dazzling but dangerous

Greetings nature lovers, today I want to tell you about my experience when I found this beautiful flower. Luckily I am not a flower cutter because if I had done it I would have had a medical emergency. If you want to know why I invite you to continue reading my post.

In a garden near my house, there is a bush with thin leaves. It is a very slender plant and blooms several times a year. Its flowers are fuchsia, very showy that's why when it starts the period where it opens its flowers I like to photograph all its stages.

This plant belongs to the Apocynaceae family, which grows very well in subtropical climates. Its scientific name is Nerium oleander, and it is known as Oleander. It is a plant native to the Mediterranean area. However, it is widely distributed in Turkey, Morocco, Iraq, India, Pakistan, China, and America in warm climate zones.

Its flowers are so beautiful and showy that this plant is used for ornamental purposes in urbanisms and houses. The flowers I photographed are fuchsia, but they can also be orange, white, yellow, salmon, pink, red, and purple.

You can identify it are its elongated green leaves similar to laurel. However, it is a plant that when cutting some of its parts secretes a milky liquid that is irritating to the skin causing erythema and dermal vesicles that take more than a month to heal. It is therefore recommended when working in the garden with this plant to wear protective gloves. Can you imagine if I had cut one of its flowers?

Nerium oleander is ranked among the top 20 most poisonous plants worldwide because it has some toxic compounds (Digitoxigenin, Oleandrin, Neriin, Oleondroside) that, when ingested, affect the heart function, the digestive system, and the central nervous system.

So if you have pets, be very careful that they get close to this plant because there are records of animals (goats, horses, rabbits, rodents) that have died when they have accidentally consumed some of the parts of this species.

Nature today leaves me teaching: All its elements are to be enjoyed and admired in their habitat. To have disrespected this plant by cutting some of its flowers would have caused at least one irritation on my hands. So I leave you with more photos of the flowers of this plant without being dangerous.

Thanks for reading. See you in a future post!
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