(like oleander) potent cardiac glycosides that have led to their use as arrow poisons in Africa. The three remaining genera Alafia Thouars, Farquharia Stapf and Isonema R.Br. are less well-known in cultivation. Synonymy The plant has been described under a wide variety of names that are today considered its synonyms: Oleander Medik. Nerion Tourn. ex St.-Lag. Nerion oleandrum St.-Lag. Nerium carneum Dum.Cours. Nerium flavescens Spin Nerium floridum Salisb. Nerium grandiflorum Desf. Nerium indicum Mill. Nerium japonicum Gentil Nerium kotschyi Boiss. Nerium latifolium Mill. Nerium lauriforme Lam. Nerium luteum Nois. ex Steud. Nerium madonii M.Vincent Nerium mascatense A.DC. Nerium odoratissimum Wender. Nerium odoratum Lam. Nerium odorum Aiton Nerium splendens Paxton Nerium thyrsiflorum Paxton Nerium verecundum Salisb. Oleander indica (Mill.) Medik. Oleander vulgaris Medik. Etymology The origins of the taxonomic name Nerium oleander, first assigned by Linnaeus in 1753, are disputed. The genus name Nerium is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek name for the plant nẽrion (νήριον), which is in turn derived from the Greek for water, nẽros (νηρός), because of the natural habitat of the oleander along rivers and streams. The word oleander appears as far back as the first century AD, when the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides cited it as one of the terms used by the Romans for the plant. Merriam-Webster believes the word is a Medieval Latin corruption of Late Latin names for the plant: arodandrum or lorandrum, or more plausibly rhododendron (another Ancient Greek name for the plant), with the addition of olea because of the superficial resemblance to the olive tree (Olea europea) Another theory posited is that oleander is the Latinized form of a Greek compound noun: οllyo (ὀλλύω) 'I kill', and the Greek noun for man, aner, genitive andros (ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός). ascribed to oleander's toxicity to humans. The etymological association of oleander with the bay laurel has continued into the modern day: in France the plant is known as "laurier rose", while the Spanish term, "Adelfa", is the descendant of the original Ancient Greek name for both the bay laurel and the oleander, daphne, which subsequently passed into Arabic usage and thence to Spain. The ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco may have taken its name from the Berber name alili or oualilt for the flower. Distribution and habitat Nerium oleander is either native or naturalized to a broad area spanning from Northwest Africa and Iberian Peninsula eastward through the Mediterranean region