CSIR-NEERI Biodiversity Portal

MEXICAN OLEANDER / LUCKY NUT

(Thevetia peruviana (Pers) Merrill)

Botanical name	: Thevetia peruviana (Pers) Merrill
Synonym	: Cascabela thevetia (L.) Lippold
Vernacular name	: Mexican Oleander / Lucky Nut
Family	: Apocynaceae
About the Tree	: A small tree with poisonous milky juice. Thevetia peruviana originates from tropical America and is widely cultivated throughout the tropics as an ornamental, also in tropical Africa.
Height	: Grows up to 1.5m to 2.5m.
Bark	: Smooth, green when young but turns grey eventually.
Leaf	: Oleander-like leaves are mostly in whorls of three, simple and entire, almost sessile, stipules absent, blade linear-lanceolate, long and narrow up to 10 inches long, Tip of leaf pointed with a dark green color.
Flower	: Inflorescense are axillary or terminal cymes. Flowers are funnel-shaped yellow to peachy pink, white, with characteristic fragrance. Calyx is 5 in number, corolla tube trumpet-shaped, 2 carpels fused in lower half, and style is long and slender. The floral parts are arranged in imbricate pattern.
Fruits	: Fruit is small, depressed, globose to turnip-shaped drupe 3-4 cm in diameter, yellowish green, ripening black, 2-4-seeded within the stony endocarp. Seeds obovoid, 2 cm x 1.5 cm, flattened.
Season	: Flowering and fruiting occurs throughout the year.
Medicinal Properties Peculiar Character	: Thevetia peruviana is used medicinally throughout the tropics in spite of its toxicity .said to be an effective cure for intermittent fevers. It has anti-microbial properties. : All parts of the plant and especially the seeds are highly poisonous and contain toxic cardiac glycosides like Thevetin and Peruvoside that can cause severe illness or even death if ingested. The sap may cause skin irritation. Burning the wood or plant material can produce toxic smoke.