African Swift vs climbing-oleander

Apus barbatus compared with Strophanthus gratus

Key Differences

  • African Swift is Least Concern while climbing-oleander is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank African Swift climbing-oleander
Kingdom Animalia (Animals) Plantae (Plants)
Phylum Chordata (Chordates) Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class Aves (Birds) Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order Apodiformes (Apodiformes) Gentianales (Gentianales)
Family Apodidae Apocynaceae
Genus Apus Strophanthus
Species Apus barbatus Strophanthus gratus

Conservation Status

African Swift

LC — Least Concern

climbing-oleander

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute African Swift climbing-oleander
Diet
Average Lifespan
Average Length
Average Weight

Habitat & Geographic Range

African Swift

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Found in Norway.

climbing-oleander

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Guinea and India.

African Swift

The African Swift (Apus barbatus) is a species in the genus Apus. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

climbing-oleander

Climbing Oleander, Strophanthus gratus, is a woody liana or climbing shrub in the family Apocynaceae native to tropical West and Central Africa, occurring in rainforest margins, gallery forest, and secondary forest from Senegal to Uganda. The species belongs to a genus celebrated for the cardiac glycosides and arrow poisons produced in the seeds; Strophanthus species were the source of the drug ouabain (g-strophanthin), historically used in cardiac medicine and by African hunters as an arrow poison applied to hunting darts. Climbing Oleander produces large, funnel-shaped flowers with white to pale pink twisted petals and a fringe of elongated lobes at the corolla mouth, borne in terminal cymes that are highly ornamental. The name 'climbing oleander' refers to the superficial resemblance of the flowers to the related Mediterranean oleander (Nerium oleander). The species climbs by twining its stems around supporting vegetation and is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental in tropical gardens. The seeds contain strophanthin and other potent glycosides that affect the cardiac system; all parts of the plant are toxic if ingested. The species is not currently assessed as threatened within its native tropical African range.

Nature FYI Family

Explore more of the natural world across our sister sites.

Part of the Nature FYI family — FYIPedia