a genus of plants of the family Apocynaceae. They are tall evergreen shrubs. The narrow, leathery, lanceolate leaves are opposite or in whorls of three or four. The flowers, which are bright, large, and five-parted, are in terminal corymbose inflorescences. The corolla is pink, red, white, or yellow. The fruits are many-seeded follicles. There are three species, distributed in the Mediterranean region and subtropical Asia. All species are decorative. The most widely cultivated species is the oleander (N. oleander). It is grown in the USSR on the southern Crimean coast, on the Black Sea shore of the Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, and in the southern regions of Middle Asia. In other regions of the USSR, the oleander is raised only as a house plant. There are many garden forms, which vary in the doubleness and coloration of flowers. The entire plant is poisonous and contains a number of cardiac glycosides (oleandrin, cornerin). Preparations obtained from the leaves—neriolin and cornerin—are used in solutions and tablets to treat various cardiovascular disorders.