Frangipani or Plumeria

The terms Plumeria and frangipani are synonymous. In many countries, including the USA, many people know the word “plumeria” but have never heard of “frangipani”. In Australia, many people use the colloquial term “frangipani” but do not know the word “plumeria”.

Professional and horticulturalists in Australian usually prefer to use the botanical name “Plumeria” when discussing frangipani species. For example, they would say or write Plumeria obtusa more than Frangipani obtusa. In this example, it can also be abbreviated to P. obtusa.

Plumeria, or frangipani, is a small genus of plants in which there are only a few common species. Many languages, especially those spoken in tropical countries, use neither frangipani nor plumeria and have their own word.