Cananga odorata

Ylang-ylang

Family Annonaceae

Cananga odorata, ylang-ylang (C. odorata 1), is an evergreen tree, up to 30 m tall, with drooping branches and elliptic leaves. The flowers (C. odorata 2) are borne in small clusters on older wood, with long wavy and very fragrant petals. The olive-like fruits are clustered and fleshy and contain several seeds.

Use
Ylang-ylang oil is obtained by distillation of fully opened flowers, 10 kg of fresh flowers yielding about 10 g of oil. The first portion of the distillate, which is called ylang-ylang oil or macassar oil, is used in quality perfumery; the remainder of the distillate, known as cananga oil, is used in cheap perfumery and soap.
Formerly the main producer of ylang-ylang was the Philippines, followed by Java. Nowadays Reunion is the most important producer. The tree was introduced on this island in 1770.