Plumeria cv ‘Jean Moragne Sr’

P. ‘Jean Moragne’ is one of the famous Moragne hybrids produced by the late Mr. William Moragne, Sr. of Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii during the 1950s. After nearly twenty years of experiments, Mr. Moragne performed first documented cross pollination of Plumeria rubra varieties. The results are some of the most spectacular plumeria cultivars known. He named this cultivar for his wife Jean.

‘Jean Moragne’ is characterized by flowers that tend to remain partially open for several days somewhat resembling a tulip during this period. Plumeria flowers with this tendency are frequently referred to as semi-shells. This cultivar is an excellent bloomer. While it may lack in the number of flowers open at one time, it more than compensates for this by continuing to bloom for many months.

There has been much confusion among plumeria enthusiasts with respect to the Jean Moragne cultivar name. It is sometimes used to market another Moragne hybrid: ‘Jeannie Moragne’. Mr. Moragne named his favorite flower for his wife Jean. His son, William Moragne, Jr, coincidentally married another Jean, known by the family as Jeannie. The original cv ‘Jean Moragne’ became ‘Jean Moragne, Sr.’ and the flower named for Jeannie became ‘Jean Moragne, Jr.’. Since ‘Jean Moragne’ was already a registered cultivar name for the plant described here and because the abbreviations ‘Sr.’ and ‘Jr.’ were not part of a real persons name, they could not be used in a registered cultivar name. The Moragne family has solved this problem by retaining ‘Jean Moragne’ instead of ‘Jean Moragne, Sr.’ and by selecting ‘Jeannie Moragne’ instead of ‘Jean Moragne, Jr.’. Now its up to the growers to get their price lists correct!

Petal Shading

• Top:Red-Purple 61B grainy and pale on the left becomes an intense stripe on the right. An Orange-Red 33A center cover the bottom quarter of the petal and merges with the Red-Purple shade.
• Bottom:Red-Purple 59C stripe on the left, followed by another lighter and grainy, then becoming pale and grainy laced with white veins toward the right.

Characteristics

Flower

• Flower Width: 12.5 cm (fully open)
• Flower Type: Semi-Shell
• Texture: Delicate
• Tendency to Fade: Moderate
• Petal Type: Wide, elliptical, rounded tip sometimes appears pointed
• Fragrance: Floral sweet, sometimes spicy
• Intensity of Fragrance: Mild

Leaf

• Color: Green, glossy
• Texture: Rigid, smooth
• Leaf Border Color: Red
• Petiole Color: Green
• Shape: Elliptic, acuminate tip
• Length: 39 cm
• Width: 11.5 cm

Plant

• Pollen Parent: ‘Scott Pratt’
• Seed Parent: ‘Daisy Wilcox’
• Deciduous
• Seed production: None observed
• Branching: poor to good
• Growth habit: Rangy, dense
• Measured Trunk Circumference: 26 cm

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