Bad-smelling Alkanet vs climbing-oleander

Alkanna maleolens compared with Strophanthus gratus

Key Differences

• Bad-smelling Alkanet is Critically Endangered while climbing-oleander is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bad-smelling Alkanet	climbing-oleander
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Boraginales (Boraginales)	Gentianales (Gentianales)
Family	Boraginaceae	Apocynaceae
Genus	Alkanna	Strophanthus
Species	Alkanna maleolens	Strophanthus gratus

Evolutionary Relationship

Bad-smelling Alkanet and climbing-oleander share a common ancestor at the Class level: Magnoliopsida. (Dicots)

Conservation Status

Bad-smelling Alkanet

CR — Critically Endangered

climbing-oleander

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bad-smelling Alkanet	climbing-oleander
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bad-smelling Alkanet

Habitat

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

climbing-oleander

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Guinea and India.

Bad-smelling Alkanet

The Bad-smelling Alkanet (Alkanna maleolens) is a species in the genus Alkanna. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

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.