Yellow oleander (Cascabela thevetia)

Ginje or yellow oleander or be-still tree or thevetia peruviana (Cascabela thevetia) is plant species in Apocynaceae, small tropical shrubs or small trees, poisonous but some bird species are known to eat fruit without adverse effects and are widely cultivated as ornamental plants.

C. thevetia has shiny green leaves, linear-lanceolate and covered with a waxy coating to reduce water loss. The green stems turn silver or gray with age, but the inside remains green and has a thin brown skin.

The flowers are long funnel shaped and yellow or white or red. Dark red fruit that encloses a large seed. Yellow oleander is drought resistant, tolerant of high temperatures, dry or barren soil and drought.

All parts of the plant are poisonous to most vertebrates because they contain glycosides. The main poisons are cardenolides called thevetin A and thevetin B, peruvoside, neriifolin, thevetoxin, and ruvoside. Toxins are used in biological pest control. Seed oil is used for antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-termite properties.

Several species of birds are known to eat them without ill effects, including the sunbirds, Asian coels, red-whiskered bulbuls, white-browed bulbuls, red-vented bulbuls, brahminy myna, common myna and common gray hornbills. Extracts from C. thevetia have antispermatogenic activity in mice.

Bright yellow flowers are used for religious purposes, especially in the worship of Hindu Shiva. Ginje is cultivated as an ornamental plant and is planted as a large flowering bush or small ornamental tree in gardens and parks.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Rauvolfioideae
Genus: Cascabela
Species: Cascabela thevetia
Varieties: Cascabela thevetia var. peruviana

Blood lily (Scadoxus multiflorus)

Blood lily or Haemanthus multiflorus ( Scadoxus multiflorus ) is a species of plant in the Amaryllidaceae, a bulbous shrub that produces rhizomes. Leaves and flowers may appear together or leaves may be produced later. The base of the leaves and stems are tightly wrapped to form a pseudo-stem or false stem, 5-60 cm long. Flowers in umbels at the top of the stem, leafless, 12-75 cm long. Pseudostems and scapes are often covered with reddish brown to dark purple spots. The flower umbel is in the shape of a globe with 10-200 individual flowers. Each flower has a stalk, 15-45 mm long. The tepals and filaments of the stamens are red. The base of the tepals is fused to form a cylindrical tube, 4-26 mm long, the free end of the tepals 12-32 mm long, narrow and spreading. The fruit is a berry having a diameter of 5-10 mm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Amaryllidaceae Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae Tribe: Haemantheae Ge...

Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

Guinea grass or buffalo grass or green panic ( Panicum maximum ) is a plant species in Poaceae, annual grasses, growing upright to form clumps, strong, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical regions for very high value as fodder. P. maximum reproduces in very large pols, fibrous roots penetrate into the soil, upright stems, green, 1-1.5 m tall and have smooth cavities for diameters up to 2.5 mm. Propagation is done vegetatively and generatively. Ribbon-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, very many, built in lines, green, 40-105 cm long, 10-30 mm wide, erect, branched, a white linear bone, often covered with a layer of white wax, rough surface by hair short, dense and spread. The flower grows at the end of a long and upright stalk, open with the main axis length to more than 25 cm and the length of the bunches down to 20 cm. Grains have a size of 3x4 mm and oval. Seeds have a length of 2.25-2.50 mm and each 1 kg contains 1.2 - 1.5 million seeds. Guinea grass has two varieties. P...

Indian shot (Canna indica)

Puspa midra or Indian shot ( Canna indica ) is is plant species in Cannaceae, annual, shrub 0.5-2.5 meters high, depending on variety, erect stems, unbranched and leaf midrib arranged overlapping to form pseudostems and hermaphrodite flowers. C. indica forms a branched rhizome, 60 cm long which is divided into rounded segments and is covered in two stripes by pale green or purple scaly leaves. The rhizome has tubers that contain very large starch grains. The surface has transverse furrows, the underside appears white roots and numerous shoots. The leaves sit alternate and spiral or arranged in two rows, very large and divided into a leaf midrib, short stalk and blade. The strands are 30-60 cm long, 10-20 cm wide and have linear veins, green or purple-green, the base blunt or narrowly pointed and the apex immediately tapering or sharp. Hermaphrodite flowers, pedicels 0.2-1 cm long and red or yellow-orange, except in some cultivars 4.5-7.5 cm long. The sepals are triangular in shape a...

Dlium