Foreign (Frangipani)

We sat on the verandah for lunch today, and noticed our frangipani trees are shooting their leaves now quite quickly also some buds are just starting to emerge.
Some facts from "All Things Frangipani"
Generally thought to be native to South and Central America, although some say they are originally from the Caribbean.
More importantly they were brought to Australia via two routes, the first was through the Torres Strait islands which are between Australia and New Guinea and are less than a days paddle in a dug out canoe from either.
The Torres Strait Islanders Traded with both the New Guinea and Australian Aboriginal people and brought the Frangipani to both the Torres Straits and Australia. The islanders consider the Frangipani as sacred.
The second and most important wave of frangipani introduction Into Australia was through the Polynesian missionaries in the 1800's. The missions were established in remote Northern tropical parts of Australia, most missions failed to survive the long term in these disease, snake ridden, crocodile and cyclone prone areas and were abandoned.
They eventually vanished with only the drought hardy Frangipanis surviving.
Most of the beautiful varieties of Frangipanis in Australia were brought directly from Polynesia by these missionaries.
I love the perfume from the flower, very tropical, and foreign.