atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

Recent introduction. India. Occasional. Smooth erect shrub, up to 2 or 3 m tall,
resembling a gardenia, with scanty, white milky sap; leaves, 6 to 15 cm long and 2 to
4.5 cm wide, dark green, lighter below, glossy, opposite, elliptic oblong, acute or
obtuse, acute at base, glabrous, thin, with 6 to 10 pairs of curving veins; petiole short,
mostly about 1 cm long, clasping the stem; flowers, 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter, usually
several, up to about 8, together or rarely solitary, in flat-topped corymbose clusters near
branch tips or leaf ads, white, nearly odorless, calyx about 5 mm long, segments rather
broad, deltoid and obtuse, corolla, 5-parted, tube 1.5 to 2.5 cm long, cylindrical, lobes,
about 2 cm long, often doubled and ruffled, crinkled or crepe-like; fruit, rarely seen in
cultivation, 3 to 7 cm long, yellow-orange, paired, oblong, podlike, with 1 to 3 ridges,
pubescent, red within; seeds, many, embedded in pulp. Planted ornamental. 3(58706), 5,
6(222), 7.
Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) K. Schurn. " be-still tree", "yellow oleander"
syns. Cerbera peruviana Pers.; C. thevetia L.; Thevetia neritfolia Juss. ex
Steud.; T. thevetia (L.) Millsp.
Recent introduction. Peru. Occasional. Everblooming shrub or small tree, up to 8
m or taller, propagated from seeds and cuttings; all parts reportedly poisonous; leaves, 5
to 15 cm long and 0.5 to less than 1 cm wide, numerous, dark green, somewhat shiny
above, paler beneath, leathery (coriaceous), alternate, linear-lanceolate, acute or
subobtuse, acute at base; petiole, very short, about 3 mm long; flowers, about 4 to 7 cm
long, 5-parted to more than halfway down, showy yellow, mildly fragrant, funnel- or
trumpet-shaped, borne in terminal cymose clusters; calyx, 1 to 1.3 cm long, 5-lobed,
acute-acuminate; fruit, 4 to 5.5 cm broad, a juicy red drupe, ripening to black, con-
taining a thin layer of pulp and 2 oily seeds. Planted ornamental. 3(58704), 5(78), 6, 7.
AQUIFOLIACEAE (Holly Family)
Ilex sp. "holly"
Recent introduction. Eurasia. Rare. Evergreen shrub with short-stemmed leaves
bearing several strong spines. Planted ornamental. 6(164).