Oleander – pożyteczny, niebezpieczny i piękny – i jego tajemnicza historia
Oleander – useful, dangerous and beautiful – and its mysterious history

Summary/Abstract: Oleander (Nerium oleander) has sometimes been confused with rhododendron, laurel and even the rose of Jericho. Linguists to this day disagree on the etymology of many of the names by which it was called, and art historians are not sure whether Pythia, the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, depicted in ancient frescoes chews the leaves of the laurel or oleander. Stories about the shrub’s properties (magical, medicinal, poisonous, hallucinogenic) date back to the oldest civilizations of the Mediterranean basin. Pliny, Dioscorides, Theophrastus, among others, wrote about it. In some cultures it is an emblematic plant: it was the first to bloom in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb explosion. The motif of this beautiful plant – ornamental, symbolic and useful – is often found in literature, folklore and fine arts. The paper will address all these issues.

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