The name "frangipani" comes from a fictional 16th-century marquis of the noble Frangipani family in Italy, who created a synthetic plumeria-like perfume.[6][7] Common names for plants in the genus vary widely according to region, variety, and whim, but frangipani or variations on that theme are the most common.[5]
In eastern India and Bangladesh, plumeria is traditionally considered as a variety of the champak flower, the golok chapa, meaning the champaka that resides in the heavenly home of Sri Krishna, a Hindu god at the highest realm of heaven. In Sri Lanka it is known as “Araliya” or “Temple Flower”.The flower, considered sacred, is also known by the names gulancha and kath golap.
Plumeria branches are succulent.[8] The trunk and branches of the Plumeria species have a milky latex sap that, like many other Apocynaceae, contains poisonous compounds that irritate the eyes and skin.[9][10]
Plumeria trees are small or low shrubs. The leaves grow at tips of their branches. Various species and cultivar have various leaf shape and arrangements.[10][3] The leaves of P. alba are narrow and corrugated, whereas leaves of P. pudica have an elongated shape and glossy, dark-green color. P. pudica is one of the everblooming types with nondeciduous, evergreen leaves. Another, semi-deciduous species that retains leaves and flowers in winter is P. obtusa; commonly known as "Singapore plumeria".[11]
Plumeria trees flower from early summer to fall. Their blossoms grow in clusters on ends of the stems, they are made of tubular corolla with a length of 2–4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) that split sharply into five rounded and waxy petals that overlap each other. These flowers come in many colours including pink, red, white and yellow, orange, or pastel. They have separate anthers.[10][3]
The flowers are highly fragrant, especially at night. Their scent is perceived to have elements of jasmine, citrus, and gardenia. However, they yield no nectar. Their scent tricks sphinx moths into pollinating them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar.[12]
Insects or human pollination can help create new varieties of plumeria. Plumeria trees from cross-pollinated seeds may show characteristics of the mother tree or their flowers might just have a distinct appearance.[13]
Its fruit separates into two follicles with winged seeds.[3]
The genus Plumeria includes about 18 accepted species, with over 100 regarded as synonyms. As of January 2024[update], Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[2]
Plumeria rubra L. - Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela; naturalized in China, the Himalayas, West Indies, elsewhere in South America, and numerous oceanic islands
Plumeria can be propagated by seed or vegetatively propagated by cutting stem tips in spring, allowing them to dry at their bases, then planting in well-drained soil. These are particularly susceptible to rot in moist soil. Applying rooting hormone to the clean fresh-cut end will enable callusing.
Plumeria cuttings can also be propagated by grafting to an already rooted system.[16] The Plumeria Society of America lists 368 registered cultivars of Plumeria as of 2009.[17]
InMesoamerica, plumerias have carried complex symbolic significance for over two millennia, with striking examples from the Maya and Aztec periods into the present. Among the Maya, plumerias have been associated with deities representing life and fertility, and the flowers also became strongly connected with female sexuality. Nahuatl-speaking people during the height of the Aztec Empire used plumerias to signify elite status, and planted plumeria trees in the gardens of nobles.[18]
In the Philippines, where plumerias were introduced early in the 1560s from Mexico, plumerias are associated with graveyards, since the strong smell of the flowers were used to mask the "smell of death". This association spread into neighboring regions in Ternate and into Malaysia and Indonesia. In these three countries, plumerias are still often associated with ghosts and cemeteries.[19][20] Yangsze Choo in her novel The Night Tiger for example described it as is "the graveyard flower of the Malays". Plumerias often are planted on burial grounds in all three nations. They are also common ornamental plants in houses, parks, parking lots, and other open-air establishments in the Philippines. Balinese Hindus use the flowers in their temple offerings. The plumeria's fragrance is also associated with the Kuntilanak, an evil vampiric spirit of a dead mother in Malaysian-Indonesian folklores.
In several Pacific islands, where plumerias were introduced in the late 19th century,[19] such as Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, and the Cook Islands, Plumeria species are used for making leis.[21] In Hawaii, the flower is called melia. In modern Polynesian culture, the flower can be worn by women to indicate their relationship status—over the right ear if seeking a relationship, and over the left if taken.[22]
Plumeria alba is the national flower of Laos, where it is known under the local name champaordok champa.
InBengali culture, most white flowers, and in particular, plumeria (Bengali, chômpaorchãpa), are associated with funerals and death.
Indian incenses scented with Plumeria rubra have "champa" in their names. For example, nag champa is an incense containing a fragrance combining plumeria and sandalwood. While plumeria is an ingredient in Indian champa incense, the extent of its use varies between family recipes. Most champa incenses also incorporate other tree resins, such as Halmaddi (Ailanthus triphysa) and benzoin resin, as well as other floral ingredients, including champaca (Magnolia champaca), geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), and vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) to produce a more intense, plumeria-like aroma.[23]
In the Western GhatsofKarnataka, the bride and groom exchange garlands of cream-coloured plumeria during weddings. Red-colored flowers are not used in weddings in this region. Plumeria plants are found in most of the temples in these regions.
InSri Lankantradition, plumeria is associated with worship. One of the heavenly damsels in the frescoes of the fifth-century rock fortress Sigiriya holds a five-petalled flower in her right hand that is indistinguishable from plumeria.[24]
^ ab"Genus: Champa L."Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 14 March 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
^ abcd"Plumeria Tourn. ex L."Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
^ abZumbroich, Thomas J. (2013). "'Plumerias the Color of Roseate Spoonbills' -Continuity and transition in the symbolism of Plumeria L. in Mesoamerica". Ethnobotany Research & Appllications. 11: 341–363.
