Plumeria alba

Plumeria alba

The White frangipani o Caterpillar tree, Cagoda tree, Pigeon wood, Nosegay tree, West Indian-jasmine (Plumeria alba L., 1753) is a shrub species belonging to the Apocynaceae family.

Systematics –
From a systematic point of view it belongs to:
Eukaryota domain,
Kingdom Plantae,
Subkingdom Tracheobionta,
Spermatophyta superdivision,
Magnoliophyta division,
Class Magnoliopsida,
Subclass Asteridae,
Gentianales Order,
Apocynaceae family,
Subfamily Rauvolfoideae,
Tribe Plumerieae,
Subtribe Plumeriinae,
Genus Plumeria,
Species P. alba.
The terms are synonyms:
– Plumeria alba var. jacquiniana A.DC.;
– Plumeria hypoleuca var. angustifolia Gasp.;
– Plumeria revolutifolia Stokes.

Etymology –
The term Plumeria was dedicated in honor of the French botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704), monk, explorer and illustrator, scholar of American flora who collected plants from the Caribbean area at the end of the 17th century.
The specific epithet alba, i.e. white, is attributed with reference to the white color of its flowers.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Plumeria alba is a plant native to tropical America, especially Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. The original range extends from Mexico and Florida, through Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama) and the Caribbean (Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos Islands, Venezuelan Antilles, Windward Island), up to the northern part of South America (Colombia, Venezuela and Guyana).
The plant, however, has been planted in tropical regions around the world.
Its natural habitat is that of small coastal woodlands and limestone forests at low altitudes and ascending towards the lower mountainous areas.

Description –
Plumeria alba is a deciduous plant that grows in the form of a shrub or small tree, with a rather spreading crown, which can reach about 10 m in height.
The stems are greyish tending to suberify with age.
The branches are very dense, smooth with a green terminal part, from which an abundant latex emanates in case of injury.
The leaves are narrow, linear-lanceolate, glossy above, pointed, 20-50 cm long, numerous, thick at the ends of the branches which fall off as the drought increases leaving wide scars on the branches and the fruit is a narrow brown pod containing numerous flattened and winged seeds.
It produces clusters of large, mill-wheel-shaped white flowers that appear in spring and are yellow at the base.
The plant, in the air of origin, flowers and bears fruit all year round.
Two large, showy and narrow follicles, up to 25 cm long, are born from the fertilized flower, joined together at the base.

Cultivation –
Plumeria alba is an evergreen shrub that is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use as medicine and a source of wood.
It is an uncommon species that is often confused with the white-flowered varieties with yellow maw of Plumeria rubra which have an intense perfume.
The plant is very ornamental, with clusters of showy flowers.
For its cultivation, the plant grows both in full sun and in partial shade.
From the pedological point of view it tolerates many types of soil as long as they are well drained, furthermore the mature plants are very resistant to drought.
It is a slow growing plant, even if it flowers from a young age.
The plants flower and produce fruit all year round when grown in the Puerto Rico range or in countries with similar climatic conditions.
The plant is rather sensitive to low temperatures, so much so that outside the tropical and subtropical zones it must be cultivated in pot to be able to be sheltered in winter in a luminous place with temperatures which should not fall below the 12-14°C, to be repositioned in spring in the open, preferably exposed to the south, seen that in order to flower well it needs at least 6-8 hours of sun per day.
The plant can be propagated by seed or more easily by cutting. Large hardwood cuttings should be allowed to dry for several days, while terminal cuttings should be planted immediately.

Customs and Traditions –
Plumeria alba is a plant known by various names. In English-speaking countries it takes the names of: caterpillar-tree, milktree, nosegaytree, pigeonwood, wild frangipani; in France those of frangipanier blanc and fleurs blanches; in the Spanish language those of alhelí, alelí, alhelí blanco, alhelí cimarrón, tabaiba, suche, franchipán, caracucha, tabeiba, frangipani; in Cuba those of lirio blanco, lirio silvestre; in the Philippines of calachuchi, carachuchi; in Mexico of cacahoaxochitl, cacaloxochil, flor del cuervo; in Peru by caracucho.
Other common names are: Cagoda tree, White frangipani, Kathgolap (Bengali: কাঠ গোলাপ), Champa (Bengali: চাঁপা), Lee La Wa Dee (Thai: ลีลาวดี), Châmpéi sâ (Khmer), Hoa ch ăm pa (Vietnamese), Kamboja (Indonesian), Dok Champa (Lao: ດອກຈໍາປາ), Chafa (Marathi), Sudu araliya (Sinhala), Champo (Gujarati) and الياسمين الهندي in Arabic.
P. alba is often grown as an ornamental plant. In Cambodia pagodas mostly choose this shrub, with the flowers being used in ritual offerings to deities, they are sometimes used to make necklaces that decorate coffins. Furthermore, the flowers are edible and eaten as pancakes, while the heart of the wood is part of a traditional medical preparation taken as a vermifuge or as a laxative.
This species has great ornamental value, so it should be cultivated more. In Ceylon, India and Southeast Asia it appears planted near temples and cemeteries.
Among other uses the wood, which is light brown in color, is hard, heavy and tenacious. It is used in carpentry in areas where the tree reaches sufficient size.
Wood is used as fuel. When this tree is cut down, a white latex bleeds deeply.
In the pharmacological field, the latex secreted by these plants has been used abroad in skin diseases, insteps, scabies, ulcers and other skin infections, thanks to its antimicrobial activity. However, contact with the skin can produce an irritating and rubefacient action. It could be used initially diluted in equal parts. The milky, viscous juice was used to remove warts. Inside it is purgative in an amount of 3 drops, in adults it is toxic, it produces profuse diarrhea and gastrointestinal irritation.

Method of Preparation –
Plumeria alba is a plant that is used above all in the ornamental field.
In the food field, the flowers are eaten as pancakes.
In the medicinal field, the bark of the root is used which is purifying and purgative, causing thirst. It is used in the treatment of blenorrhagia, herpes and syphilis.
The root bark is used externally as a lotion on syphilitic ulcers, administered as a powder macerated in sugar water, wine or beer.
The stem latex is caustic. It is used for the treatment of ulcers, skin diseases and scabies.
The flowers are bitter and caustic. They are an ingredient of a complex chest syrup for the treatment of chest cough and other pathologies.
The seeds are used in the treatment of dysentery.
The white latex profusely oozing from the damaged areas of the plant is used in traditional medicine.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Acta Plantarum – Flora of the Italian Regions.
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Useful Tropical Plants Database.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (ed.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora of Italy, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Treben M., 2000. Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy, Advice and experiences with medicinal herbs, Ennsthaler Editore.

Photo source:
– https://indiabiodiversity.org/biodiv/observations//c42fbbe3-b373-445d-b309-bbcf239de528/4c00e1cbdf4f4647ad7ba599da7d907f.jpg

Attention: The pharmaceutical applications and alimurgical uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not in any way represent a medical prescription; we therefore decline all responsibility for their use for curative, aesthetic or food purposes.