Plumeria is a flowering small tree in the Apocynaceae family, native to South America and the Caribbean islands. Nowadays it is grown as cosmopolitan ornamentals in tropical regions, especially in Hawaii and southeast asia, as well as hot desert climates in the Arabian Peninsula with proper irrigation.
Plumeria
Plumeria are small trees that can grow to 6m, but are usually kept pruned at 2.5m in gardens. The trunk and branches have a milky latex sap containing poisonous compounds that irritate the eyes and skin. The leaves grow at tips of the branches. The shape and arrangements of leaves varies on cultivars,some are narrow and dark-green color, others are elongated shape and glossy, but almost of them lose their leaves in the cold season. Plumeria bloom from early summer to fall. Its blossom grow in clusters on ends of the stems, white flowers from 5 to 10cm, with five rounded and waxy petals that overlap each other. These flowers come in many colours including pink, red, white and yellow, orange, or pastel. They are highly fragrant especially at night, their scent is perceived to have smells from some flowers like jasmine, citrus, and gardenia. However, they yield no nectar, attracting the pollinisator insects like sphinx moths only with the smell.