Where does Plumeria (frangipani) come from?
Plumeria comes from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Its fragrant, waxy flowers are so tied to Hawaii's flower garlands that many think it is a native island plant, but a German doctor only brought it to the islands in 1860.
At home in the American tropics
Plumerias grow wild in the Neotropics, from Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean. In Mesoamerica the flowers have carried symbolic meaning for over two thousand years: Nahuatl speakers at the height of the Aztec Empire used them as a sign of elite status and planted them in nobles' gardens. Plumeria rubra is the national flower of Nicaragua. The genus name honours Charles Plumier, a French botanist who explored the tropical Americas for Louis XIV, and was coined by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1700.
Carried round the tropics
The Spanish took plumerias to the Philippines in the 1560s, and from there they reached Indonesia and Malaysia, where they are often planted in cemeteries. Plumeria rubra is now the national flower of Laos. The common name, frangipani, comes from a perfume. It is said to honour a 16th-century Italian nobleman, the Marquis Frangipani, credited with a perfume for scenting leather gloves, and the family name passed into French as frangipane.
Why people say Hawaii
William Hillebrand, a German physician, arrived in Honolulu in 1850, became physician to the royal family and planted exotic and native trees in his garden, now Foster Botanical Garden. In 1860 he brought plumeria to the islands. It thrived in the warm climate and volcanic soil, from sea level to about 2,000 feet, and Hawaiians named it melia. It became a common backyard flower, and in the early 1900s families strung garlands of such flowers to sell to visitors arriving at Honolulu Harbor.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Plumeria ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Frangipane ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › William Hillebrand ↗ · westhawaiitoday.com ↗ · etymonline.com ↗
