Cananga odorata

(Lam.) Hook.f. & Thomson

Ylang-Ylang

Annonaceae Edible: Flowers - oil, Fruit, Flavouring 2,334 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Cananga odorata, known as ylang-ylang ( EE-lang-EE-lang) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Vietnam. It is valued for the essential oils extracted from its flowers (also called "ylang-ylang"), which has a strong floral fragrance. Ylang-ylang is one of the most extensively used natural materials in the perfume industry, earning it the name "Queen of Perfumes". A related plant in the same family, the climbing ylang-ylang vine, Artabotrys hexapetalus (synonym A. odoratissimus) is a woody, evergreen climbing plant, which is also a source of perfume.

Description

An evergreen tree. It grows to 25 m tall and spreads to 5 m wide. The stem is erect and the branches are weeping. The leaves are alternate and simple. They are 20 cm long and with wavy edges. They are oval and tapering. The flowers are bright green. They are 7.5 cm long with twisted, drooping, narrow petals. They have a strong smell. Flowers are on short stalks and grow from old wood. The flowers occur in clusters in the axils of leaves. The fruit is made up of 10-12 seed buds and they are black.

Edible Uses

The essential oil extracted from the flowers is used by the food industry, particularly in peach and apricot flavourings. It appears in candies, icings, baked goods, soft drinks, and chewing gum.

Traditional Uses

The oil distilled from the flowers is used for food flavouring especially sweet foods. Oil is used in medicine and aromatherapy.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

The flowers and their essential oil are antipruritic, antifungal, antiseptic, and sedative — relieving tension, lowering blood pressure, and reducing fever. They are also considered aphrodisiac. Dried flowers are used to treat malaria, while fresh flowers made into a paste treat asthma. Applied externally, they address skin irritations, conjunctivitis, boils, and gout. Added to bath water, they are used for impotence and frigidity. In aromatherapy, the essential oil is used for tachycardia, rapid breathing, hypertension, gastrointestinal infections, and psycho-sexual complaints. Flowers are harvested at night and either dried for infusions or distilled for their oil. The leaves are used to treat diarrhoea in infants and as a remedy for boils, and are rubbed on the skin to relieve itch. The bark is applied against scurf, and an infusion of bark treats stomach pains, indigestion, and colic. Fluid pressed from the bark is used for toothaches and migraine headaches. The seed has been applied externally to treat intermittent fever.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows best in rich, moist, well drained soil. It requires a protected sunny position. It is drought and frost tender. Temperatures need to be above 21°C for seed to grow. Trees need temperatures above 16°C. It does best in regions with an annual average temperature of 18-28°C. It grows in rainforest. It grows in moist valleys below 800 m altitude. In Costa Rica it grows up to 200 m altitude. In Colombia it grows between 100-2,220 m above sea level. In XTBG Yunnan. At MARDI. In Townsville Queens BG.

Where It Grows

Africa, American Samoa, Andaman Is., Angola, Asia*, Australia, Banlgadesh, Cambodia, Central Africa, Central America, China, Chuuk, Colombia, Comoros, Congo DR, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Fiji, French Polynesia, FSM, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Hawaii, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Kenya, Kosrae, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marianas, Marquesas, Mexico, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nicaragua, Niue, Pacific, Palau, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Rotuma, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, South America, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, USA, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, West Indies,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed. The seed must be sown fresh. It is best to sow the seed in the field to avoid damaging the long taproot. The tree is often pruned to 3 m height to make oil harvesting more easy. The branches are bent down and pegged to the ground. Plants can also be grown from cuttings.

Propagation

Fresh seed germinates erratically, but germination rates improve after 6–12 months of storage. Pre-soaking in hot water can also increase germination rates. Plants can be raised in nursery beds, but must be handled with great care during transplanting to avoid damaging the long taproot. Direct sowing is common — place seed 5cm deep in well-cultivated, fertilised planting pits of at least 50cm depth. The plant can also be propagated by cuttings.

Other Uses

Two types of essential oil are obtained from the flowers, both supplying the dominant odour note in many perfumes. The cultivar group 'Ylang-ylang' produces ylang-ylang oil with a more subtle perfume; 'Extra' quality is much used in high-class perfumery, while third-grade ylang-ylang oil has a harsher, more tenacious odour and is mainly used in soaps and men's toiletries. The cultivar group 'Cananga' yields cananga oil, which shares that harsher character and can be mixed with coconut oil to make Macassar hair oil. The fragrant yellow-green flowers are made into leis, used to scent coconut oil, and worn for personal adornment at festivities. Women in Malaysia and Indonesia often tuck a flower in their hair. Fresh flowers feature in ceremonies in Java and Bali, are placed among clothes, and scattered about the bed. The bark can be beaten into coarse rope. The heartwood is pinkish-buff to light grey and not clearly differentiated from the sapwood; texture is coarse, grain straight, with no distinctive odour or taste. The wood is light in weight, not very durable, and vulnerable to termite attack, but seasons well with little degradation and is easy to work to a smooth finish. It is used locally for general construction, turnery, canoe-making, boxes, tea chests, and plywood, with potential for small drums and matchsticks. The wood is sometimes used as fuel. Because of its fast growth and ability to attract birds and bats to its fruit, the species is used for rainforest regeneration in Australia.

Production

Plants are fast growing. They can grow 5 m per year. The tree flowers all year round. The first crop of flowers are harvested when trees are 1.5-2 years old. After that, flowers are picked twice per year. The flowers are picked early in the morning then the oil is extracted by steam distillation. A tree can yield 20-100 kg of flowers in a year.

Other Information

A very minor food flavouring.

Notes

Probably only used in medicine. The tree can be invasive in some locations. There are 2 Cananga species. It is grown in Hawaii for perfume.

Synonyms

Cananga mitrastigma (F. Muell.) DominCananga odorata var. velutina (Blume) Koord. & ValetonCananga scortechinii KingCanangium mitrastigma (F. Muell.) DominCanangium odoratum (Lamarck) King.Canangium scortechinii KingFitzgeraldia mitrastigma F. Muell.Unona fitzgeraldii F. Muell.Unona leptopetala DunalUnona odorata (Lam.) Baill.Uvaria axillaris Roxb.Uvaria farcta Wall.Uvaria hortensis NoronhaUvaria odorata Lamarck

Also Known As

Apurvachampaka, Cananga, Chettu sampang, Djini, Ilagnilagny, Ilang-ilang, Kadat-ngan, Kan dan nga, Kananga, Karumugai, Kasar, Kenanga, Kradanga, Lanalana, Llang-Llang, Macassar Oil Tree, Maso'oi, Mohokoi, Moskoi, Mosokoi, Moso'oi, Muso'oi, Ngoc lan tay, Perfume Tree, Sa'o, Saga-sein

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