Cerbera peruviana Persoon, Syn. Pl. 1: 267. 1805; Cascabela thevetia (Linnaeus) Lippold; Cerbera thevetia Linnaeus; Thevetia linearis A. de Candolle; T. neriifolia Jussieu ex Steudel, nom. invalid.; T. neriifolia Jussieu ex A. de Candolle; T. thevetia (Linnaeus) Millspaugh.

Trees to 6 m tall. Bark chocolate-brown, lenticellate; lower branches pendulous, young branches greenish gray. Petiole ca. 3 mm; leaf blades lustrous green adaxially, light green abaxially, very narrowly oblong, 10-15 X 0.5-1.2 cm, somewhat leathery, glabrous, apex acuminate, lateral veins obscure. Pedicel 2.5-5 cm. Flowers fragrant. Sepals green, narrowly triangular, apex acuminate. Corolla 6-7 X 4.5-5.5 cm; tube 4-5 cm, shorter than lobes; corona scales present, connected by a transverse row of long white hairs, lobes obliquely obovate. Drupes compressed triangular-globose, 2.5-4 cm in diam. Seeds light gray, lenticular, ca. 2 X 3.5 cm. Fl. May-Dec. 2n = 20.

Cultivated for medicine. The sap and seeds are deadly poison-ous to domestic animals. The seeds yield oil for industry and soap making. The bark is a powerful antiperiodic and febrifuge. A handsome ornamental.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [native to Central and South America]