Flower

Flower traits are usually the first things people notice, but they are also the easiest to misread. Color can change with sun exposure, flower age, temperature, camera settings, and season.

How to choose flower color

1. Look at several fully open flowers, not just one bloom.
2. Use a bloom that opened recently and has not faded heavily in strong sun.
3. Choose the main petal color or colors for the outer petals. Do not count the center color as the primary flower color.
4. If the petals clearly show more than one dominant color, select multiple colors or a multicolor/blended value when available.
5. If the flower changes color between cool and hot weather, note that in color behavior or verifier notes rather than forcing one value.

How to choose center color

1. Look only at the eye, throat, or center area where the petals meet.
2. Choose the center color even if that same color also appears elsewhere on the petal.
3. If the center is not distinct, use No Distinct Center or mark it for review.

How to choose flower size

1. Measure a fully open bloom across its widest point.
2. Measure more than one bloom if possible.
3. If blooms vary, use the closest range rather than a single exact size.
4. Do not estimate from a cropped photo unless there is a reliable size reference.

Best evidence: several clear flower photos from different days, with notes for date, region, season, sun exposure, and whether the bloom was newly opened or aged.

Fragrance

Fragrance is helpful, but it is subjective and can change by time of day, humidity, heat, flower age, and the person smelling it.

1. Smell more than one bloom on the same plant.
2. Check at different times of day if possible, especially morning and warm afternoon.
3. Choose the strength first: none, light, mild, moderate, strong, or heavy.
4. Then choose scent character only if it is clear, such as classic plumeria, sweet, citrus, jasmine, rose, coconut, peach, spicy, grape, lemon, or musk.
5. If two trusted observers disagree, use a softer value or mark it for review.

Tree

Tree traits should be based on an established plant when possible. Young cuttings, recently rooted plants, and plants grown in pots can look different from mature landscape specimens.

Bloom

Bloom habit describes how the cultivar performs over time, not whether one photo shows flowers.

1. Use rare or occasional bloomer only when repeated observations support it.
2. Use good, heavy, or exceptional bloomer when the plant regularly blooms well under normal care.
3. Use early bloomer or late bloomer only when bloom timing is known compared with other cultivars in the same growing area.
4. Use reliable bloomer when performance is consistent across seasons or trusted reports.
5. Do not confuse a single strong inflorescence with heavy blooming habit.

Seed / Reproduction

Seed setting should be recorded from observed pods or trusted source notes. Many cultivars may set pods in one climate and not another.

1. Record none observed only when the source is clear that pods have not been seen.
2. Use rare, occasional, or reliable seed setting only when there are repeated observations.
3. Use single pod or paired pods when the pod form is visible or documented.
4. Do not infer seed-setting behavior from parentage alone.
5. List known seedlings on the cultivar record when the parent relationship is supported by a source.

Propagation

Propagation traits describe how a cultivar behaves when grown from cuttings or grafts. These values should come from grower experience, not from a single newly rooted plant.

1. Use rooting difficulty only when multiple cuttings or trusted grower reports support the value.
2. Choose rooting speed from repeated observation, such as fast, average, slow, or very slow.
3. Record cutting success only when the grower has enough attempts to judge the cultivar fairly.
4. Use grafting difficulty when the cultivar has known compatibility, vigor, or aftercare issues.
5. If the only source is one successful cutting or one failed cutting, mark the trait for review instead of treating it as final.

Propagation behavior can change with season, cutting maturity, heat, humidity, media, sanitation, and grower method.

Petal Shape / Type

Petal shape should be judged from a front-facing, fully open flower. One distorted bloom is not enough.

1. Look at several typical blooms from the same plant.
2. Choose shape based on the petal outline: elliptical, obovate, spatulate, round, narrow, wide, or overlapping.
3. Use twisted, reflexed, incurved, shell, semi-shell, ruffled, or wavy only when that form is typical, not occasional.
4. Use star-shaped when the bloom consistently reads as a star form from the front.
5. If the photo angle hides the petal form, mark the trait for review.

Petal Surface / Color Behavior

This section captures texture and how the flower behaves in sun, heat, cool weather, and age.

1. Choose smooth, velvety, grainy, waxy, thin, medium substance, or thick petals from close photos or direct observation.
2. Use fades in sun when color noticeably washes out after exposure.
3. Use holds color well when blooms keep their color even after sun exposure.
4. Use intensifies in heat when warmer conditions make the color stronger.
5. Use darkens in cool weather when cooler conditions deepen the color.
6. Use strong veining, color bands, splash, or streaks only when the pattern is a normal cultivar feature.

Photo context is important here. A photo date, season, region, sun exposure, and approximate temperature can explain why the same cultivar looks different in different photos.

Inflorescence

Inflorescence traits describe the flower cluster and stalk, not the individual flower. These traits are useful, but they require clear photos of the whole bloom cluster.

1. Use inflorescence height only when the flower stalk can be seen from the branch to the bloom cluster.
2. Estimate flowers open at once from a clear cluster photo or direct observation, not from a cropped single-flower image.
3. Record stalk color only when lighting is reliable and the stalk is visible.
4. Record stalk texture only when the photo is close enough to show smooth, rough, or pubescent surface detail.
5. If only individual flower closeups are available, mark inflorescence details for review.

Leaves

Leaf traits are useful when flower traits are not enough, but they should be taken from healthy mature leaves. Stressed, pest-damaged, nutrient-deficient, or newly emerging leaves can mislead the record.

1. Use mature leaves from normal growth, not tiny new leaves or old damaged leaves.
2. Choose size only if the plant is healthy and the leaf size is typical.
3. Choose shape terms such as narrow, wide, oblanceolate, or elliptic from the overall leaf outline.
4. Choose glossy, matte, dark green, medium green, or light green only when lighting is reliable.
5. Use acuminate tips, rounded tips, or prominent veins when those features are clearly visible.
6. Check petiole length on several mature leaves before choosing short, medium, or long.
7. Choose petiole color only when the stalk color is clearly visible; new growth, sun exposure, and stress can change the apparent color.
8. If the leaf photo is poor or the plant was stressed, mark the trait for review instead of choosing a value.

Petiole

The petiole is the short stalk between the leaf blade and the branch. Petiole length and color can help compare cultivars, but the observation should come from mature, healthy leaves and more than one leaf when possible.

1. Check several mature leaves from normal growth before choosing short, medium, or long petiole length.
2. Record petiole color only when the stalk is clearly visible and lighting is reliable.
3. Do not use stressed, sunburned, pest-damaged, or very young leaves for petiole color decisions.
4. If petiole length or color varies strongly across the plant, mark it for review or describe the range.

Origin / Source

Origin and source notes explain where a cultivar is reported to have come from and how the record information is supported. These fields are research context, not visual proof of identity.

1. Use country of origin only when the source is clear and applies to the cultivar, not merely to a nursery selling it.
2. Keep origin, introducer, nursery line, and collection notes separate when possible.
3. Record parentage and known seedlings only when the source supports the relationship.
4. If a detail is reported but not verified, mark it as reported or needs review rather than treating it as confirmed.
5. Use AKA names carefully; spelling differences, quoted names, and marketing names should not automatically create separate cultivars.

Photo Context

Photo context helps explain why the same cultivar may look different in different pictures. Sun exposure, bloom age, heat, cool weather, season, camera settings, and region can all affect visible color and form.

1. Record the date, time of day, region, and photographer credit whenever known.
2. Note whether the photo shows a newly opened bloom, mature bloom, or aged/fading bloom.
3. Include sun exposure and approximate temperature when available, especially for cultivars that fade or intensify with heat.
4. Use photo-observed traits as clues, not final proof, unless the photo identity and context are trusted.
5. When the photo source is uncertain, mark the photo for review before using it as a reference image.

Photo Submissions

Photos are most useful when they include context. A photo submitted to Plumeria Database should include the cultivar name, date taken, time of day, region, and photographer credit. The submitter must either have taken the photo or have permission from the original photographer.

Submitting a photo gives Plumeria Database permission to use it on the website and in related publications, and to crop, resize, or make reasonable display adjustments while preserving the cultivar reference purpose.

Submit a cultivar photo

Registration References

The Plumeria Society of America, Inc. is the official source for plumeria registration information. Plumeria Database can help organize cultivar records, photos, and comparison traits, but it is not the official registry.