Cascabela thevetia

 

 Plant Family:   Apocynaceae

 

Description: Cascabela thevetia is a poisonous plant, a relative of Nerium oleander, giving it a common name yellow oleander, and is also called lucky nut in the West Indies.  C. thevetia is an evergreen tropical shrub or small tree. Its leaves are willow-like, linear-lanceolate, and glossy green in color. They are covered in waxy coating to reduce water loss (typical of oleanders). Its stem is green turning silver/gray as it ages.  Flowers bloom from summer to fall. The long funnel-shaped sometimes-fragrant yellow (less commonly apricot, sometimes white) flowers are in few-flowered terminal clusters.  Its fruit is deep red-black in color encasing a large seed that bears some resemblance to a 'Chinese lucky nut.

 

Origin and Natural Habitat: it is native to central and southern Mexico and Central America.

 

 Distribution:  C. thevetia is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and planted as large flowering shrub or small ornamental tree standards in gardens and parks in temperate climates. In frost prone areas it is container plant, in the winter season brought inside a greenhouse or as a house plant. It tolerates most soils and is drought tolerant.