About The Author
Joerg Pein was born into a North German horticultural family. After working in several nurseries in his region he travelled extensively in South East Asia and developed a lasting interest in tropical plants. He eventually decided to spend most of his life in Thailand and the Philippines where he now runs a plant export business and owns a valuable plumeria collection in Negros.
About The Book
Plumeria in Thailand: A Guide to 235 Varieties lists and illustrates 235 horticul tural varieties and species of mainly Thai origin-many of them never described before. The plumeria or frangipani is a magnificent flowering tropical tree, unrivalled for its exquisite colors and fragrances. Written for the beginner as well as for the specialist it provides practical information on growing, flowering and propagation (air layering, cuttings, grafting and seeds) along with comprehensive botanical data, including Thai names as far as available. Also included useful information on diseases and pest control. This book is intended to serve as a guide to the identification of plumerias, with an emphasis on Thai varieties, while also being informative on other varieties in the USA and other places.
Introduction
The plumeria, commonly known as the frangipani or temple tree, was originally spelled plumiera in honor of the man who discovered it, the Frenchman Charles Plumier (1648-1706). Plumier was Royal Botanist to Louis XIV and a keen plant collector. He was the first to describe the new genus after discovering it during his plant-collecting expeditions in the Caribbean in the 1690s. Plumeria is a smaller genus within the much larger Apocynaceae family (or Dogbane family in English) and comprises just seven distinct species-according to the American botanist Woodson's 1938 revision of the genus, in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. Woodson, it must be noted, did not have the opportunity to conduct field studies on living plants: the bulk of his work was conducted in the lab using dried specimens collected from various US-based herbaria of his time. It is possible, therefore, that there are more than seven species of plumeria, but further study is necessary to determine what should be classified as a distinct species and what can stay as a subspecies. Some scientifically oriented sources list as many as 17 distinct species; other sources list as few as three. Matters are further complicated by the many dif-ferent synonyms which are used to describe the same plant. The non-specialist approaching the subject for the first time is bound to be confused. Consequently, this book will deal only briefly with the complex topic of plumeria species clas-sification, and will focus instead on a selected group of six species which have some horticultural value Introduction Much more data-derived from extensive study of living plants must be gathered on plumeria before consensus can be reached on a decision on the exact number of species. Clearly, the whole genus is in need of a thorough revision. To put plumerias in perspective, it is worth noting that the full Apocynaceae family includes more than 4,500 species today, since the subfamily of Asclepiad oideae, which covers 2,365 species alone, has recently been included. Apart from a few species found in temperate climates most are sub-tropical to tropical plants, such as trees, shrubs, lianas and herbs. Adenium, Allamanda, Beaumontia, Carissa, Catharanthus, Hoya, Pachypodium, Mandevillea, Nerium, Thevetia, Tabernaemontana and Wrightia are perhaps the most well-known and best-loved of these (other than plumerias, of course). All can be found in tropical gardens where they are prized for their distinctive flowers and shapes and for their alluring fragrances. With the exception of Carissa macrocapra and Carissa edulis, or Saba senegalensis for example, few of the many species of Apocynaceae are eaten by animals because of a poisonous sap (milky or non-milky). The poison seems to be particularly strong in species such as Allamanda, Apocynum, Nerium, Pachypodium, Rhazya and Plumeria. The non-milky juice of Acocantherea and Pachypodium is in fact so poisonous it is used by the bushmen of Namibia as a venom for arrows. Because of this toxicity the sap serves as an effective repellent. The sap is present within most of the plant's vessels-stem, leaf and branch-and its chemical composition comprises alkaloids, glycosides and saponins, the latter being readily water-soluble and absorbed through the digestive system. Accordingly, and presumably from bitter experience, animals and even most insects have learned to leave Apocynaceae well alone. Though it is not in the food chain, plumeria does have a place in traditional medicine. In South East Asia, for example, extracts of its bark are used as a remedy for digestive problems or against inflammation; its flowers can help against high blood pressure, cough or fever, and its roots have been used as an ingredient in skin ointments. Other members of the Apocynaceae family are important sources of drugs such as cardiac glycosides, for example, which influence heart function. Quinine (used in the treatment of malaria) is extracted from the soap bark tree (Quillaja saponaria). With the progress in scientific research and in view of the size of the Apocynaceae family the list of such plants with beneficial medicinal properties can only be expected to increase.
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