Plumeria 'Pauahi Alii' History & Facts

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Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop bequeathed her entire estate for the establishment of a school to educate Hawaiian children highlighting the history and culture of the Native Hawaiian people. Her endowment for the Kamehameha Schools continues even today to support the largest independent pre-kindergarten through grade twelve school system in the United States.

Plumeria ‘Pauahi Alii’ was originally part of the Donald Angus collection with the name ‘Angus Gold’. Dr. Richard Criley, Director of the Waimanalo Plumeria research station of the University of Hawaii, received a request to name a plumeria cultivar in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1831 – 1884), the great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha I. She was the last heir of the Bishop Estate and the person for whom the Bishop Museum in Honolulu is named after. The Bishop Museum group, which is located at 1525 Bernice Street in Downtown Honolulu, requested the name ‘Pauahi Alii’ for the plumeria.

Plumeria ‘Pauahi Alii’ has large brillant gold flowers with wide, dark red bands on front and back with a dark red center. The flowers measure three and a quarter inches in diameter. They have a heavy texture with a very good keeping quality. Plumeria ‘Pauahi Alii’ gives off a fine lemon frangrance.

Plumeria ‘Pauahi Alii’