Plumeria
Plumeria rubra · Edible flower
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Plumeria (frangipani) is the intensely fragrant tropical blossom of small trees in the genus Plumeria — five-petalled, pinwheel-shaped flowers most famous strung into Polynesian leis, and eaten in modest amounts across the Pacific and South and Southeast Asia as tea, fritters and a perfumed garnish.
Picking a good onedrag
Just picked, waxy and full-scentedBruised brown and collapsing
Shop freshEveryday bestPetals only, and sparingly — pull them from the tube for a scented garnish or salad, batter and fry them, or steep them. Sap, bark, leaves and seed pods are not food.
Where it came fromYour own unsprayed tree, picked and rinsed the same morning
The petalsStill waxy, a faint tan line down one outer edge
One bloom in the handStill firm, the outer petals beginning to relax
Tube and break at the baseBase drying, the sap set to a clear film, tube still firm
Smell at the bloomStill clearly perfumed, but you have to go to it