Plumeria rubra is a deciduous plant species belonging to the genus Plumeria. Originally native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, it has been widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical climates worldwide and is a popular garden and park plant, as well as being used in temples and cemeteries. It grows as a spreading tree to high and wide, and is flushed with fragrant flowers of shades of pink, white and yellow over the summer and autumn. Plumeria rubra was one of the many species first described by Carl Linnaeus, and appeared in the 1753 edition of Species Plantarum. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin ruber "red". The epithets acuminata, acutifolia, and lutea are seen, but these are invalid. Its common names include frangipani, red paucipan, red-jasmine, red frangipani, common frangipani, temple tree, or simply plumeria. Despite its common name, the species is not a "true jasmine" and not of the genus Jasminum. Common names The common name “frangipani” comes from an Italian noble family, a sixteenth-century marquess of which invented a plumeria-scented perfume. The genus name honors Charles Plumier, who was a French monk of the Franciscan order, and a botanist. In Mexico the common name is or . The name comes from Nahuatl and means “crow’s flower”. P. rubra was declared the national flower of Nicaragua in 1971, where it is known as . In Spanish, frangipanis are also referred to as , , and . The term is a Hawaiian one. In the Cook Islands, it is known as . It is grown extensively in southern and western parts of India, where it is named champa or a derivative thereof such as chaaphaa, champige etc. It is also referred to as champa in Pakistan. In Cambodia it is given the names (also romanised as , meaning 'red'), or , while the French term for the species is . In Sri Lanka, it is known as in Sinhalese. It is known by many names in Brazil, including , , and . Another name it has in Portuguese is . In Myanmar, it is referred to as , , and . In China, it has the common name , and in the United States, it is referred to as nosegay. In the Philippines, it is known as the kalachuchi. Description Plumeria rubra belongs to the dogbane family and grows as a spreading shrub or small tree to