ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2026
Nerium oleander L., a circum-Mediterranean study of the etymological, ecological, historical, mythological, and ethnobotanical roots of its vernacular names.
Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNerium oleander is one of the most famous poisonous and horticultural plants of the Mediterranean, as well as in other regions of its distribution. In many cultures, oleander is associated with poisoning, simultaneously symbolizing beauty and evil. Due to its unique properties and large showy flowers, this plant has many names in various languages.
methodsThis paper presents an attempt to reconstruct the historical, ethnobotanical, and etymological roots in 23 languages of 180 vernacular names of Nerium oleander around the Mediterranean. We used the plant 's morphological data, myths and legends about it, its chemical properties and uses, as well as historical evidence and ethnobotanical data, to explain the meaning, origin, migration, and history of the plant 's names.
resultsThe languages with the highest number of names are Turkish (30), followed by Italian (21), Greek (20), Catalan (16), Arabic (15), Spanish (14), and French (13). The remaining 14 languages collectively account for 51 names. These names were categorized as follows: Derivatives of 'generic' names: Nerium, oleander, and difla / arodafne (25 names in 14 languages); names referring to morphological characteristics, color, and odor (11 names in 5 languages); names referring to similarity to other plants (51 in 14 languages); names related to taste, chemical constituents, and their uses and effects (53 in 16 languages); names related to religion and local saints (12 in 7 languages); names related to habitat and places (11 in 8 languages); names falling outside the above categories or unexplained (16 in 8 languages).
conclusionsThe distribution of these names across languages and categories reflects Nerium oleander 's toxicity, similarity to other plants, historical distribution, and to a lesser extent-its specific habitat and traces of cultural migrations. Some names preserve evidence of extinct past uses.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.