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Ornamental, Garden & Landscape Section Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121:xxx–xxx. 2008. Identification of the Four Forms of Plumeria rubra STEPHEN H. BROWN* University of Florida, IFAS, Lee County Extension Service, 3406 Palm Beach Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33916-3736 ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. frangipani, Plumeria acuminata, Plumeria acutifolia, Plumeria lutea, Plumeria tricolor, plumeria hybrids The number of Plumeria species range from five to 45. Plumeria rubra L. is apparently the source of many Plumeria cultivars. The species is the parent stock for many color variations and many of the named cultivars we have today. In the past, flower colors of Plumeria rubra were considered distinct species but are now regarded as different forms of the same species. All forms have twisted overlapping corollas, much like the blades of a propeller. Forma acutifolia has white flowers and yellow centers. Forma lutea has yellow flowers. Forma rubra has pink flowers with a tangerineyellow center and forma tricolor has pale yellow-white flowers with yellow centers and a red or pink rim. Forma rubra has the longest flowering days and is the tallest of the four forms. Flowers of forma acutifolia and forma lutea appear earlier in the year than forma rubra but their flowering days are generally shorter. There is little agreement among botanists about how many Plumeria species there are and the delineation within the species. The estimated number of Plumeria species ranges from five (Wiersema, 2008) to 45 (Llamas, 2003). All of these species are likely to be called frangipani. Gentry (1993) states that all species of Plumeria are dry-forest trees with large infundibuliform flowers and tiny inflorescence bracts. Infundibuliform is defined as a flower with a funnel-shaped corolla. Plumeria flowers are among the most fragrant of tropical flowering plants. These small trees are grown primarily for their aroma in almost all tropical and subtropical areas of the world. They have rather thick, waxy branches that exude a milky white sap when cut or broken. The milky exudates can cause allergic reactions in some people. The growth habit is usually open, but some are awkwardly shaped. Others grow into a distinct candelabrum form. As the tree ages, the canopy thickens. Technically, leaves are alternately arranged, but are so tightly clustered at the end of branches that they appear as whorls. The terminal cymes are 6 to 10 inches in diameter, and are made up of 20 or more blossoms. The flowers are waxy and salverform. Salverform is defined as a flower with slender tube corolla that abruptly expands into a flat limb. Plumeria rubra L. is the most commonly grown Plumeria species in Florida and in many warm climates. Its native range is from central Mexico to Colombia. The tree grows from 15 to 25 ft tall. The flowering period of P. rubra is from March to July. In 1938, R.E. Woodson organized P. rubra into four forms delineated by the primary colors of the flowers: white, yellow, pink, and a tricolor. His work was the last official revision of the genus, and it has been unrecognized in most literature, and by botanical garden staff and Plumeria vendors. Today, many hundreds of variations of these four forms exist, and thus some claim that P. rubra is of garden origin and merely a collection of hybrids. A renowned flowering tree guru of the past, Edward Menninger (1962), stated that there are two kinds of frangipani, the Mexican frangipani (P. acutifolia Poir), with yellow-centered white flowers, and the nosegay frangipani (P. rubra), usually with pink or red blossoms, sometimes yellow or white (Menninger, 1962). Hortus Third (Bailey and Baley, 2000), however, recognized the four forms of P. rubra as described by Woodson. Since this is not a botanical treatise on the species, the distinguishing characteristics of the four forms are presented here without dissent. Further, formal recognition of forms, as opposed to subspecies and varieties, are generally not recognized by taxonomists. Forms are usually considered minor genetic differences, such as in flower color (R. Wunderlin, personal communication). Plumeria rubra f. acutifolia has white flowers with yellow centers (Fig. 1). This form is still routinely described in Florida as P. alba L. Thus, P. alba has become a convenient name for the white-flowered form, of which there are many cultivars. Plumeria rubra f. lutea has yellow flowers fading to white at the edge as they mature (Fig. 2). ‘Aztec Gold’ is an f. lutea cultivar, and is popular in Florida. *Corresponding author; email: brownsh@ufl.edu; phone: (239) 533-7513 Fig. 1. Plumeria rubra f. acutifolia. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008. 1 Fig. 2. Plumeria rubra f. lutea. Fig. 3. Plumeria rubra f. rubra. Plumeria rubra f. rubra has pink flowers of varying intensity with a tangerine-yellow center (Fig. 3). ‘Hot Pink’ is an often seen f. rubra cultivar. It is one of the tallest plumeria cultivars and can grow to a height of 30 ft. Plumeria rubra f. tricolor has pale yellow-white flowers with tangerine-yellow centers and red or pink rim (Fig. 4). Many of the “Rainbow” hybrids are progeny of this form. Flowers of the white and yellow forms appear slightly earlier in the year than the pink form, and the tricolor is last to appear. The numbers of flowering days for the yellow form is generally shorter than the other colors. The pink form has the most flowering days compared to the other three forms. Literature Cited Bailey, L.H. and E.Z. Bailey, 2000. Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada. Vol. II, L–Z. Barnes & Noble, NY. p. 889. Gentry, A.H. 1993. A field guide to the families and genera of woody plants of northwest South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru). University of Chicago Press, Chicago. p. 243. Llamas, K.A. 2003. Tropical flowering plants: A guide to identification and cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. p. 63. Menninger, E.A. 1962. Flowering trees of the world for tropics and warm climates. Hearthside Press, NY. p 40. Wiersema, J.H. 2008. USDA, Germplasm Resources Information Network, Species Nomenclature. USDA, Beltsville, MD. Woodson, R.E., Jr. 1938. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Apocynaceae N. America, Fl. 29:103-192. 2 Fig. 4. Plumeria rubra f. tricolor. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008.