(and sometimes the beast!)

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13.12.11

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I found this lush flower in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens at Toowong (not that it was lost you understand).  It's called Climbing Oleander or Strophanthus gratus, is from tropical West Africa  and has a sweet fragrance.  I know Oleander is considered to be toxic and so is this, read more about that here. As well as being known as Ouabain, I found it can be called Rose Allamanda.  A plant of many names and uses, including arrow poison!