THE CUB A R E VIE W 



The Frangipani Flower 



Italian named Frangipani, and which is still the trade name of a perfume known in 

 commerce. 



There are two reasons why the trees of this group of plants were called frangipani; 

 one that the early ItaUan and Spanish settlers in the West Indies observed the similarity 

 between the fragrance of plumieria flowers and the perfume invented and prepared by a 

 descendant of the old Frangipani family in Rome, who held the office of breaking bread 

 in the Holy Sacrament. The other reason is that the trees exude from wounds in the bark 

 an abundance of tenacious white juice which resembles coagulated milk, or frangipanier 

 in French. While it matters little which one of these two theories is correct, the fact re- 

 mains that the frangipani flowers are among the most fragrant kinds known, ^'ying in 

 this respect with the jasmine. In fact thej' are often called jasmine and less frequently 

 pagoda or nosegay in the West Indies. 



The botanical generic name Plumieria was given to this group of plants in honor 

 of a noted French botanist named Plumier. In the natural classification of plants it forms 

 a part of the Dogbane family (Apocinacese), and is said to include about forty species 

 which are widely distributed throughout East and West Indies, and being .so extensively 

 cultivated for the sake of their very fragrant flowers, practically all the species have be- 

 come thoroughly naturalized in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. The family 



