Frangipani

Plumeria rubra

Beng: Goloncho / Kath Champa

A popular garden tree small deciduous tree with large, pointed leaves crowded at the end of blunt soft branches. It is a popular garden tree with fragrant flowers, whose color vary, though white with a yellowish center is most seen variety.

Bark: Very thin, shiny, greenish brown.

Leaf: Large (up to 15’’ long), smooth (but not shinny), pointy at both ends.

Flower: Fragrant, around 2’’ in diameter, in loose clusters. color vary based on variety

Fruit: 5’’ long cylindrical pendulous twin pods joined in the middle (almost never fruits in Kolkata)

Season: Trees remain leafless during winter, flowers appear from February to October, flowering often starts just before the new leaves appear

Range/habitat: Different varieties have come from slightly different regions, but all of them are from hot tropical American continents like south Mexico, Panama, West Indies to northern south America. Probably brought to India by the Portuguese and few Indians now consider it as an exotic tree

Trivia and notes: A very hardy plant and tolerates long dry spell. In Bankura district of West Bengal, there is a ritual of planting this tree branch in hillocks (probably to ward off evil spirits). This shows that this exotic tree has been “Indianized”

Where to Find: Surprisingly are in Rabindra Sarobar, Kolkata. There is one in “Ma phire elo” museum compound GPS: 22.50980, 88.35948