Melia

Melia, in the Hawaiian language, refers to all forms of Frangipani or Plumeria. The genus name Plumeria is in honor of the 17th century French Franciscan monk and botanist Charles Plumier. In 1860, the same year of the founding of the religious congregation of Hawai'i's Saint Marianne Cope, the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, German physician and researcher of Hansen's disease, Wilhelm Hillebrand, brought the first plant to Hawai'i. It is native to the West Indies and Tropical America. In Samoa, it is known as Pua fiti, or Fijian pua.

Melia is easily recognized by their distinctive “candelabrum” shape, obovate leaves; and large, showy flowers that come in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and fragrances.

The tree is small (to 8 m tall) ornamental with milky juice (latex) that is widely cultivated for its beautiful clusters of very fragrant large, tubular flowers, which are often red, rose-colored, or purple-tinged, but some cultivars have yellow flowers or are white with a yellow mark at the base of each lobe, among other color combinations.

Melia prefer full sun, well-drained soil conditions.

Traditional Cultural and Medicinal Uses

• Melia did not become popular for lei making until the 1940's when the tourist industry in Hawai'i picked up on the use of the flower with the idea of welcoming visitors with lei
• Prior to that time the trees were often planted to landscape cemeteries, thus becoming known as the cemetery flower
• Leaves used to wrap and heal bruises (Carribean)
• A flower worn behind the left ear symbolizes one is taken; behind the the right means one is still available in relationships (Polynesia)