Blackboard Tree vs climbing-oleander

Alstonia scholaris compared with Strophanthus gratus

Key Differences

• Blackboard Tree is Least Concern while climbing-oleander is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blackboard Tree	climbing-oleander
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Gentianales (Gentianales)	Gentianales (Gentianales)
Family same	Apocynaceae	Apocynaceae
Genus	Alstonia	Strophanthus
Species	Alstonia scholaris	Strophanthus gratus

Evolutionary Relationship

Blackboard Tree and climbing-oleander share a common ancestor at the Family level: Apocynaceae.

Conservation Status

Blackboard Tree

LC — Least Concern

climbing-oleander

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blackboard Tree	climbing-oleander
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blackboard Tree

Habitat

Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Micronesia, Taiwan, and United States.

climbing-oleander

Habitat

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

Range

Distributed across Guinea and India.

Blackboard Tree

The Blackboard Tree (Alstonia scholaris) is a species in the genus Alstonia. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests within the Oceanian biogeographic realm.

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.