Lal Gulachin / Red Frangipini
Plumeria rubra
Also known as Temple Of Pagoda Tree, Frangipani
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Plumeria rubra
- Genus
- Plumeria
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Native to
- Tropical America
- Distribution
- Naturalized in tropics
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Lal Gulachin itself; the rest are typical of the Apocynaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Pinkrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Follicle
Characters marked “recorded” are for Lal Gulachin itself; the rest are typical of the Apocynaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- लाल गुलाचिन Lal gulachin
- Nepali
- चोया फूल Choya Phool, गलैँची Galainchee
- Bengali
- Kathgolop, লাল কাঠগোলাপ
- Tamil
- ஈழத்தலரி
- Malayalam
- ഈഴച്ചെമ്പകം
- Marathi
- चाफ़ा Chafa, चाफा
Lal Gulachin in India
The temple tree or champa is a small ornamental tree loved for its fragrant flowers — लाल गुलाचिन Lal gulachin (Hindi), ஈழத்தலரி (Tamil), ഈഴച്ചെമ്പകം (Malayalam), चाफ़ा Chafa (Marathi), Kathgolop (Bengali). Plumeria rubra, from tropical America, is planted across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, very often in temple courtyards and gardens.
Uses
It is grown almost entirely for its sweetly scented flowers, which are used in worship, strung into garlands and floated in water bowls. The tree is easy to propagate from a cut branch. Its milky sap is mildly irritant, so the plant is ornamental rather than edible.
How to Identify Lal Gulachin
A small, sparsely branched tree with thick, blunt, fleshy branches that ooze milky sap when cut, and large leathery leaves clustered at the branch tips. The five-petalled flowers are waxy and fragrant, typically with a yellow centre shading to white, pink or red.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Red Frangipini called in different Indian languages?
- लाल गुलाचिन Lal gulachin (Hindi); ஈழத்தலரி (Tamil); ഈഴച്ചെമ്പകം (Malayalam); चाफ़ा Chafa (Marathi); Kathgolop (Bengali).
- Why is frangipani called the temple tree?
- Plumeria is very commonly planted in and around temples in India, and its fragrant flowers are used in worship and garlands, which is how it earned the name.
- How do you grow frangipani?
- It propagates very easily from a hardwood cutting left to dry briefly and then planted; it needs sun, warmth and free-draining soil.
Apocynaceae
Dogbane family
Lal Gulachin belongs to the Apocynaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
All plant problem & care guides →More in Apocynaceae
View all Apocynaceae →Sources: GBIF — Plumeria rubra (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Plumeria rubra (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Plumeria rubra (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)