DOGBANE FAMILY (APOCYNACEAE) 



218. Frangipani 



Frangipani is a small ornamental tree with 

 milky juice, introduced and connnonly planted in 

 gardens and ]5arks for its beautiful clusters of 

 very fragi'ant, large, tubular, red, yellow, or 

 white flowers. Characters for recognition include : 

 (1) the few stout fleshy branches with whitish 

 latex, bearing alternate but crowded leaves at 

 apex; (2) the large elliptic leaves 5-16 inches long 

 and 1V2~5 inches wide, shiny green above and 

 often hairy beneath; (3) loose clusters of large 

 waxy flowers 2-?> inches across the 5 spreading, 

 overlapping corolla lobes; and (4) paired pods 

 5-10 inches long and i/^-lVo inches in diameter. 



This handsome small tree becomes 15-25 feet 

 tall, with very open crown of few thick s)>reading 

 branches. Bark is gray and smoothish. In Puerto 

 Eico the trees are evergi-een. but in areas with a 

 long dry season they shed their leaves and often 

 flower when leafless. 



Petioles are stout, mostly 1-21/2 inches long. 

 Blades are usually short-pointed at both ends, not 

 toothed on edges, thick and leathery, with many 

 parallel lateral veins almost at right angles to 

 midrib. 



The long-stalked flat-top])ecl flower cluster 

 (cyme) is terminal or appearing lateral, often 6-9 

 inches across. Many blossoms are borne on stout 

 stalks 34-I inch long, buds in the center opening 

 first. The flower has a 5-lobed calyx % inch long; 

 corolla with narrow tube %-l inch long and less 

 than 1/8 inch in diameter and with 5 elliptic 

 rounded lobes 1-2 inches long, 5 small stamens less 

 than 1/8 inch long inserted near base of corolla 

 tube; and pistil of 2 separate ovaries partly infe- 

 rior and a single short style. 



The paired pods (follicles) from a flower 

 spread widely apart, split open on 1 side, and con- 

 tain many winged seeds. Flowering and fruit- 

 ing nearly through the year in Puerto Rico. 



Flowers commonly have red, rose-colored, or 

 purplish-tinged corollas, but some cultivated 

 forms have yellow flowers or white with a yellow 

 dot or eye at base of each lobe. A less frequent 

 tricolored form has a white or pale yellow corolla 

 with outer margin of lobes rose and usually with 

 a yellow spot at base of lobes. The white-flowered 

 garden form has been incorrectlj' referred to the 

 native white-flowered species (Phunerla alba L.), 

 which has narrow lance-shaped leaves densely 

 white hairy beneath and also fewer, smaller 

 blossoms. 



The firm blossoms, which do not wither easily, 



Plumeria rubra L.* 



are strung into chains and garlands and variously 

 employed in decoi-ations, often in churches. In 

 the Pacific Islands the trees frequently are planted 

 in cemeteries and sometimes called temple-flowers 

 and graveyard-flowers. 



The caustic milky juice which flows freely from 

 the cut trunks reportedly is poisonous but has been 

 employed in some regions in folk medicines. 

 Frangipani, one of the common names, is said to 

 be derived from the French word "frangipanier,"" 

 coagulated milk, which is descriptive of the thick 

 white rubbery latex. 



Common as an ornamental in Puerto Rico, St. 

 Thomas, St. Croix, St. John, and Tortola and 

 occasionally escaping from cultivation. Plants 

 are propagated easily from cuttings. It is re- 

 ported that cuttings allowed to dry out for 2 weeks 

 root readily. The trees will grow in dry, rocky, 

 and windy areas. In some areas planting is not 

 recommended because large caterpillare caused re- 

 peated defoliation. 



Range. — Native of southern Mexico and Central 

 America south to Costa Rica. Now widely intro- 

 duced through tropical and subtropical regions of 

 the world. Planted in southern Florida and Cali- 

 fornia, through the West Indies, and South 

 America south to Peru and Brazil. First de- 

 scribed botanically from specimens collected in 

 Jamaica. 



Other common names. — aleli, aleli rojo (Puerto 

 Rico) ; frangijaponie, red paucipan (Virgin 

 Islands); ataiba rosada (Dominican Republic); 

 lirio, lirio tricolor, frangipan (Cuba) ; cacaloxo- 

 chitl, cacalosiichil, siichil, flor de cuervo (Mexico) ; 

 flor de la cruz, palo de cniz, flor de mayo, matu- 

 hua, nicte de monte (Guatemala) ; flor blanca, 

 flor de la cruz, flor de ensarta, flor de mayo (El 

 Salvador) ; flor de toro, sacuanjoche (Nicaragua) ; 

 cacalojoche, flor blanca, juche, torito (Costa 

 Rica) ; caracucha, cararucha blanca, palo de la 

 cniz (Panama) ; amancayo (Colombia) ; amapola 

 (Venezuela) ; carachuche (Peru) ; frangipani, red 

 frangipani, white frangipani, nosegay frangipani, 

 Mexican frangipani, nosegay (English) ; red 

 jasmine (Bermuda, Jamaica) ; jessamine, Spanish 

 jasmine (Bahamas); frangipanier (French); 

 frangipanier rose (Haiti) ; frangij^anier rouge, 

 frangipanier blanc (Guadeloupe) ; red f rangepane 

 (Dutch West Indies). 



Botanical syngni-ms. — Plumeria acutifoJia 

 Poir., P. tricolor Ruiz & Pav. 



462 



