Plumeria

Plumeria is the scent most people remember long after they leave the islands. Brought to Hawaiʻi in the 1860s, it settled in so completely that it became the backbone of the lei — easy to string, slow to wilt, and impossibly fragrant in the warm evening air.

Its perfume grows stronger at dusk, a trick of the flower to draw in night-flying moths that find no nectar waiting for them at all. Beauty, in this case, is an invitation with nothing behind it but the invitation itself.

A plumeria lei greets arrivals and sends off departures, which makes it the flower of both hello and goodbye. Take your time with these petals — they are the color of a Hawaiian sunset, soft cream warming into gold.