''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

, and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It is also native to parts of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. It is valued for the

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

s extracted from its flowers (also called "ylang-ylang"), which has a strong

floral Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants (Flowering plant, angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls in ...

fragrance. Ylang-ylang is one of the most extensively used natural materials in the

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

industry, earning it the name "Queen of Perfumes". The climbing ylang-ylang vine, '' Artabotrys hexapetalus'' (synonym ''A. odoratissimus'') is a woody, evergreen climbing plant in the same family, which is also a source of perfume.

Etymology and nomenclature

The name ''ylang-ylang'' is the Spanish spelling of the Tagalog term for the tree, - a reduplicative form of the word , meaning "wilderness", alluding to the tree's natural habitat. A common mistranslation is "flower of flowers". The tree is also called the fragrant cananga, Macassar-oil plant, or perfume tree. It is called ''kenanga'' in Malay, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *''kanaŋa''. Its traditional Polynesian names include ''mataoi'' (Cook Islands), ''mohokoi'' (Tonga), ''mosooi'' (Samoa), ''motooi'' (Hawaii), and ''mokosoi'', ''mokasoi'' or ''mokohoi'' (Fiji). Other traditional names include ''sampangi'' ( Telugu).

Description

''Cananga odorata'' is a fast-growing tree of the custard apple family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

. Its growth exceeds per year, and it attains an average height of in an ideal

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

. The compound evergreen leaves are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

, smooth and glossy, and long. Leaflets are oval, pointed and with wavy margins. The flower is drooping, long-stalked, with six narrow, greenish-yellow (rarely pink) petals, rather like a

sea star Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

in appearance, and yields a highly fragrant

. Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads. ''Cananga odorata'' var. ''fruticosa'', dwarf ylang-ylang, grows as small tree or compact shrub.

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

and

Near Oceania Near Oceania is the part of Oceania that features greater biodiversity, due to the islands and atolls being closer to each other. The distinction of Near Oceania and Remote Oceania was first suggested by Pawley & Green (1973) and was further el ...

, from the

, the

, and

, Australia. It is also native to parts of

, and

. It has been introduced to other tropical regions in the

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. It is commonly grown in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

,G. J. H. Grubben and O.A. Denton

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

, and the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

Islands. It grows in full or partial sun, and prefers the acidic soils of its native

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

habitat. Ylang-ylang has been cultivated in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ra ...

s under conservatory conditions. In Madagascar, it is grown in plantations with '' Hewittia malabarica'' as a groundcover plant.

Ecology

Its clusters of black fruit are an important food item for birds, such as the collared imperial pigeon,

purple-tailed imperial pigeon The purple-tailed imperial pigeon (''Ducula rufigaster'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is sometimes affected by Gunabopicobia pa ...

, Zoe's imperial pigeon, superb fruit dove, pink-spotted fruit dove, coroneted fruit dove, orange-bellied fruit dove, and wompoo fruit dove. The Sulawesi red-knobbed hornbill serves as an effective seed disperser for ''C. odorata''.

Uses

The essential oil is used in aromatherapy. It is believed to relieve

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

and normalize

sebum A sebaceous gland or oil gland is a microscopic exocrine gland in the skin that opens into a hair follicle to secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum, which lubricates the hair and skin of mammals. In humans, sebaceous glands occur ...

secretion for skin problems, and is considered to be an

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...

. The oil from ylang-ylang is widely used in

ry for oriental- or floral-themed perfumes (such as Chanel No. 5). Ylang-ylang blends well with most floral, fruit, and wood scents. In Indonesia, ylang-ylang flowers are spread on the bed of newlywed couples. In the Philippines, its flowers, together with the flowers of the sampaguita, are strung into a necklace (''lei'') and worn by women and used to adorn religious images. Ylang-ylang's essential oil makes up 29% of the Comoros' annual export (1998). Ylang-ylang is grown in Madagascar and exported globally for its essential oils. Ylang-ylang essential oil is one of the basic ingredients of macassar oil.

Ylang-ylang essential oil

Characteristics

The

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficien ...

of ylang-ylang is rich and deep with notes of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

and

custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...

, and bright with hints of

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

and

neroli Neroli oil is an essential oil produced from the blossom of the bitter orange tree (''Citrus aurantium subsp. amara'' or ''Bigaradia''). Its scent is sweet, honeyed and somewhat metallic with green and spicy facets. Orange blossom is also extract ...

, thus it is sometimes described as heavy, sweet, and carries a slightly fruity floral scent. The

of the flower is obtained through steam distillation of the flowers and separated into different grades (extra, 1, 2, or 3) according to when the distillates are obtained. The main aromatic components of ylang-ylang oil are benzyl acetate,

linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Together with geraniol, nerol, and citronellol, linalool is one of the rose alcohols. Linalool has multiple commercial app ...

, ''p''-cresyl methyl ether, and methyl benzoate, responsible for its characteristic odor.Manner, Harley and Craig Elevitch,''Traditional Tree Initiative: Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry'' (2006), Permanent Agricultural Resources, Honolulu, Hi.

Chemical constituents

Typical chemical compositions of the various grades of ylang-ylang essential oil are reported as: *

Linalool Linalool () refers to two enantiomers of a naturally occurring terpene alcohol found in many flowers and spice plants. Together with geraniol, nerol, and citronellol, linalool is one of the rose alcohols. Linalool has multiple commercial app ...

Germacrene Germacrenes are a group of five naturally occurring volatile organic hydrocarbons of the sesquiterpene and cycloalkene class. Germacrenes are typically produced in a number of plant species for their antimicrobial and insecticidal properties, th ...

Geranyl acetate Geranyl acetate is a terpenoid. It is a colorless liquid with a pleasant floral or fruity rose aroma. It is a colorless liquid but commercial samples can appear yellowish. Geranyl acetate is insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. Sev ...

Caryophyllene Caryophyllene (), more formally (−)-β-caryophyllene (BCP), is a natural bicyclic sesquiterpene that occurs widely in nature. Caryophyllene is notable for having a cyclobutane ring, as well as a ''trans''-double bond in a 9-membered ring, both ...

* ''p''-Cresyl methyl ether * Methyl benzoate *

Sesquiterpene Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and often have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be cyclic or contain rings, including many combinations. Biochemical modifications s ...

References

External links

*
Ylang ylang uses in perfumery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q220963 odorata Medicinal plants of Asia Essential oils Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Queensland Trees of the Philippines Austronesian agriculture

Etymology and nomenclature

Description

Distribution and habitat

Ecology

Uses

Ylang-ylang essential oil

Characteristics

Chemical constituents

See also

References

Further reading

External links