Frangipani

Hello Marylsis. As you have alluded to, Hawaii suffers from an onslaught of invasive species. It is a big problem for islands because of limited space and specialized biota. Frangipani is from the central/south Americas -- it is an exotic, an alien species. However it is a low risk invasive because it is not shade tolerant, has limited dispersal mechanisms including limited seed production, and commercially available seeds are not available. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/... It has been there quite a while but doesn't seem to be among the worst exotics plaguing beautiful Hawaii. And if you think about it, a significant amount of tropical ornamental flora species, and major food crops, are exotic in one place or another.

This is an ALIEN SPECIES to HAWAII. INTRODUCED BY THE SPANISH.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumeria