Plumeria alba

Plumeria alba
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Plumeria
Species:	P. alba
Binomial name
Plumeria alba L.[1]
Synonyms[2]
Plumeria revolutifolia Stokes

Plumeria alba is a species of the genus Plumeria (Apocynaceae). This 2-8m evergreen shrub has narrow elongated leaves, large and strongly perfumed white flowers with a yellow center. Native to Central America and the Caribbean, it is now common and naturalized in southern and southeastern Asia.

Common names

• caterpillar tree
• pagoda tree
• pigeon wood
• nosegay tree
• white frangipani
• frangipanier à fleurs blanches (French)^[3]
• Lee La Wa Dee (Thai)
• châmpéi sâ (Khmer)^[3]
• hoa chăm pa(Vietnamese)

Gallery

• 
  Flowers
• 
  Illustration
• 
  Foliage with caterpillars

Uses

P. alba is often cultivated as an ornamental plant. In Cambodia pagodas especially choose this shrub, with the flowers used in ritual offerings to the deities, they are sometimes used to make necklaces which decorate coffins.^[3] In addition, the flowers are edible and eaten as fritters, while the heart of the wood is part of a traditional medical preparation taken as a vermifuge or as a laxative.

References

1. International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI). "Plant Name Search Results" (HTML). International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 24 April 2009.
2. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved June 26, 2014.
3. Dy Phon Pauline, 2000, Plants Utilised In Cambodia, printed by Imprimirie Olympic, Phnom Penh

External links

• National Tropical Botanical Garden Plant Database
• The Plants of Saint Lucia: Wild Flowering Plants
• Plumeria alba (White Frangipani), University of Florida