Nerium

Nerium oleander, commonly known as oleander or rosebay, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium, belonging to subfamily Apocynoideae of the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is so widely cultivated that no precise region of origin has been identified, though it is usually associated with the Mediterranean Basin.

Quotes

• Hot oleanders in a rosy vale
  Search’d by the lamping fly, whose little spark
  Went in and out, like passion’s bashful hope.
  • Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, "A Night in Italy"; The Wanderer: A Poem (1859)

• The entire way from Pila to Bhakra I came down a riverbed that had some running water and oleander flowers like peach blossoms, very colorful and in full bloom. In the land of Hindustan this flower is always in bloom. There were many of them on both sides of the riverbed. To those riding and walking with me an order was given to put bouquets of these flowers in their turbans, and anyone who did not have a flower on his head would have his turban taken off. An amazing field of flowers was thus made!
  • Jahangirnama (April 1607), as translated by Wheeler Thackston (1999)