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| From-pixabay |
Kingdom-Plantae
Order-Gentianales
Family-Apocynaceae
Genus-Plumeria L.
Description
It is known as frangipani. The majority of species are tiny trees or deciduous shrubs. The species are variously endemic to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as to Brazil and Florida in the United States. However, they are occasionally grown as ornamentals in warm climates. The most popular common names for plants in the genus are frangipani or variations on that theme, however they can vary significantly by region, variety, and whim. Particularly in horticultural communities, the term "plumeria" is sometimes used as a common name. Despite having very fragrant flowers, plumeria don't produce any nectar.Their aroma is highest at night in an effort to get sphinx moths to pollinate them when they are fruitlessly searching for nectar by spreading pollen from bloom to flower. New kinds of plumeria can be produced with the aid of insects or human pollination. Plumeria trees from cross-pollinated seeds may resemble their mother tree or they may simply have different-looking blossoms.
Progation
Blossoms from plumeria are sterile. Cut stem tips in the spring, let them dry at their roots, then plant in well-drained soil to create new plants of the same species. In damp soil, these are particularly prone to rot. Callusing can be facilitated by rubbing rooting hormone on the tidy, freshly-trimmed end.Grafting plumeria cuttings to a system that has already rooted is another method of propagation. As of 2009, there were 368 registered varieties of plumeria according to the Plumeria Society of America.
Etymology
The 17th-century French botanist and Catholic monk Charles Plumier, who travelled to the New World and documented several plant and animal species, is honoured by the term plumeria. The popular word "frangipani" stems from an Italian marquis of the aristocratic Frangipani family who developed a synthetic plumeria-like fragrance in the 16th century.
The plumeria flower and tree are revered throughout Southeast Asia. An image of a plumeria tree with its distinctive flower petals and skeleton-like branches can be found on a relief in the Penataran temple ruins in East Java. Plumeria is also shown in a relief on the west side of the first zone of the Borobudur temple. These sculptures were made before European explorers arrived. Both Penataran and Borobudur were built in the fourteenth century.Together, their dates are unable to pinpoint the exact moment plumeria entered Southeast Asia.
The champak flower, also known as the plumeria or golok chapa in eastern India and Bangladesh, is thought to have originated in Sri Krishna's heavenly residence, the highest realm of heaven. The flower, which is revered, is also called gulancha and kath golap (literally, wood rose).
Taxmoxy
About a dozen species in the genus Plumeria are recognised, while another dozen or so are up for review and more than one hundred are thought to be synonyms.
Like many other Apocynaceae, the Plumeria species' trunk and branches are covered in a milky latex sap that irritates the skin and eyes. The arrangement and shape of the leaves varies between species. While P. pudica leaves are elongated and glossy dark green in colour, P. alba leaves are thin and corrugated. P. pudica has nondeciduous, evergreen leaves and is one of the everblooming varieties. Although it goes by the common name "Singapore," P. obtusa, another species that retains leaves and blossoms in the winter, is actually a Colombian plant.
Culture
In several Pacific islands, such as Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, and the Cook Islands, Plumeria species are used for making leis.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.
Plumeria alba is the national flower of Laos, where it is known under the local name champa or dok champa.
Also in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, the plumeria is often associated with ghosts and cemeteries 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.
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.
In the Western Ghats of Karnataka, the bride and groom exchange garlands of cream-coloured plumeria during weddings. Red-colored flowers are not used in weddings. Plumeria plants are found in most of the temples in these regions.
In Sri Lankan tradition, 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.
In Eastern Africa, frangipani are sometimes referred to in Swahili love poems.
Some species of plumeria have been studied for their potential medicinal value.
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