Tevezia Peruvian

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Tevetia Peruvian (lat.thevetia peruviana) - an unpretentious shrub or small tree with picturesque flowers and beautiful narrow leaves with a glossy surface. Behind the decorative appearance there is a danger to human life, since all parts of the plant are very toxic.

Description

Tevezia Peruvian, which was born in the American tropics, like many other tropical plants, combines external beauty and internal deceit.

Its flexible stems bend to the ground under the weight of tough narrow leaves, the surface of which is covered with the finest wax coating. Such a coating gives the leaves a noble shine and plays a protective function, preventing moisture from evaporating when the sun licks off every drop of water that has not had time to hide in a safe shelter.

Against the background of green shiny leaves, single (or inflorescences of two or three flowers) stand out yellow large funnel-shaped flowers, sometimes fragrant. There are species with apricot or white petals. Nature has so fancifully arranged the five petals that, on the whole, they resemble the fluffy long skirt of a dancer who has made a sharp turn, which is why the hem of the skirt is like a spiral wrapped around invisible legs.

The most dangerous part of the Peruvian Tevezia for humans is its fruit. A nice-looking round ball, green at the beginning of life and blackening by the time of maturity, hides a poisonous seed under a thin layer of pulp.

What's in your name

The specific Latin name "Thevetia" honored the memory of the French Franciscan priest, Andre Thevet, who, together with the conquerors of the New World, visited the lands of modern Brazil and created a manuscript, equipped with reliable pictures depicting the life of the aborigines, animals and plants of South America. André Teve's work was highly regarded by educated contemporaries and has served as a teaching tool for many botanists for centuries.

Along with the official name, the plant has many others, which are given by ordinary people from different countries who are not familiar with scientific botany. For certain similarities with Oleander ordinary Tevetia, many call it "Yellow Oleander". And for flowers, similar to virtuoso bells, they are called simply "Yellow Bells".

There is also a name that does not in any way combine with the insidious abilities of the seeds of Tevetia - "Lucky Nut". This is the name of the inhabitants of the West Indies.

In Spain, the plant is called "Cascabela Thevetia", hinting at the toxicity of Tevetia, which is akin to the venom of a rattlesnake.

Usage

Tevezia Peruvian is widely used as an ornamental plant in parks and gardens in areas with warm climates. Where the winters are frosty, admirers of the beauty of Tevezia grow it as a houseplant, or transfer it to greenhouses or greenhouses for the winter.

When growing such a plant at home, you must remember about its insidious abilities, and therefore, when caring for a beauty, do not forget to use protective equipment. If there are small children in the house, then it is better to abandon such exotic things by growing harmless plants that our land is rich in.

Tevetia's unpretentiousness to soils, high resistance to drought, turns the plant into an annoying weed, against which laws are even written prohibiting its cultivation in one or another country (for example, in Australia, in southern Africa).

Attempts have been made to exploit the toxicity of Tevetia in agricultural pest control. But such abilities of Tevetia have not yet received widespread use.

Poison seed oil has been tried in the production of antibacterial, antifungal and anti-termite paint.