Latin name : Plumeria Rubra ‘Acutifolia’

Family : Apocynaceae

Subfamily : Rauvolfioideae

Kingdom : Plantae

Clade : 1) Angiosperms

             2) Eudicots

            3)  Asterids

Order : Gentianales

Tribe : Plumerieae

Genus : Plumeria

   Plumeria is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species variously are indigenous to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Brazil, but are grown as cosmopolitan ornamentals in warm regions. 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. Plumeria also is used directly as a common name, especially in horticultural circles.

   Plumeria flowers are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. The flowers yield no nectar, however, and simply trick their pollinators. The moths inadvertently pollinate them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar. Insects or human pollination can help create new varieties of plumeria. 

Plumeria species may be propagated easily by cutting leafless stem tips in spring. Cuttings are allowed to dry at the base before planting in well-drained soil. Cuttings are particularly susceptible to rot in moist soil. One optional method to root cuttings is applying rooting hormone to the clean fresh-cut end to enable callusing. Plumeria cuttings could also be propagated by grafting a cutting to an already rooted system.

There are more than 300 named varieties of Plumeria.

Advertisement