Nerium oleander

Common oleander

Family: Apocynaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Common oleander is a naturalized shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Sierra Nevada foothills, Sacramento Valley, central and southern California Coast Ranges, southern California, San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in highway medians, roadsides, and streamsides at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white to yellow to red-purple flowers up to 6 centimeters wide, often appearing in double forms. Growing with dense, upright branching to 4 to 5 meters tall, it features long evergreen stems. Its leaves are linear to oblong-lanceolate, measuring 6 to 20 centimeters long and arranged in whorls along the branches. The fruit develops as an elongated pod reaching 8 to 20 centimeters in length.

Habitat: Highway medians, roadsides, streamsides

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: < 700 m

Bioregions: KR, n SNF, ScV, CCo, SCo, SnGb, SnBr, PR, DSon

California counties: Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino, El Dorado, Marin, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Butte, Tehama, Napa, Shasta, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Merced

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.