Scientific Name : Plumeria rubra L.
Common Name : Frangipani
Chinese Name : 雞蛋花, 紅雞蛋花, 鹿角樹
Family : APOCYNACEAE
Local distribution status : Exotic species
| Origins | Mexico to Central America. |
|---|---|
| Applications | Since the form of the Frangipani is elegant, with its eye-catching and fragrant blossoms in a tropical appearance, the species is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions as gardening plants and street trees. Frangipani is also a plant common plant in Hong Kong. Moreover, Frangipani is easily propagated into new individuals through cutting and layering. There are hundreds of cultivars of Frangipani with unlimited variations on the blossom colour. Numerous combinations are derived from the major colour tones such as white, yellow and crimson. The species defoliates during autumn and winter, exposing leafless branches that show a branching pattern similar to antlers. Hence, it is named as “Antler Tree (鹿角樹)” in Chinese. Frangipani is frequently applied in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) and folk medicines. As a TCM, its flowers and bark exhibit the functions of heat clearance, as well as removal of dampness and summer-heat syndrome. It is also one of the ingredients for the Guangdong herbal tea “Five-Flowers Tea (五花茶)”, where the other remaining ingredients usually consist of the flowers of Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.), Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica Thunb.), Kudzu Vine(Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi) and Tree Cotton (Bombax ceiba L.). |
| Growing habit | Deciduous tree. |
|---|---|
| Height | To 8 m. |
| Stems | Bark of trunk smooth, pale green to greyish green. Branches stout, fleshy, rich in latex, with conspicuous leaf scar on surface. |
| Leaves | Oblong-oblanceolate, apex acuminate to acute, thick papery. Lateral veins 30 to 40 on each side, nearly parallel, anastomosing (connected) near margin. |
| Flowers | Corolla funnelform. Corolla tube narrow. Lobes 5, broadly obovate to narrowly obovate, overlapping to left, white or crimson, throat yellow. |
| Fruits | Follicles two, divaricate, terete, tapering at apex, green, black when mature. |
| Seeds | Oblong, flatten, with membranous wing at apex. |
| Flowering period | March to September in Hong Kong. |
| Fruiting period | May to October in Hong Kong. |
Scientific name above is based on Hong Kong Herbarium website : https://www.herbarium.gov.hk/en/hk-plant-database/plant-detail/index.html?pType=species&oID=5857
Scientific names from other databases
― Flora of China : Plumeria rubra Linnaeus
― Plants of the World Online : Plumeria rubra L.