Plumeria rubra : Forms & Sizes

The estimated number of Plumeria species ranges from five (Wiersema, 2008) to 45 (Llamas, 2003).

In 1938, R.E. Woodson organized P. rubra into four forms delineated by the primary colors of the flowers: white, yellow, pink, and a tricolor.  Today, many hundreds of variations of these four forms exist.

Hortus Third (Bailey and Baley, 2000), recognized the four forms of P. rubra as described by Woodson.

Plumeria rubra f. acutifolia has white flowers with yellow centers.

Plumeria rubra f. lutea has yellow flowers fading to white at the edge as they mature.

Plumeria rubra f. rubra has pink flowers of varying intensity with a tangerine-yellow center.

Plumeria rubra f. tricolor has pale yellow-white flowers with tangerine-yellow centers and red or pink rim.

Source : Stephen H. Brown, Identification of the Four Forms of Plumeria rubra, Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121:406–407. 2008.