Hawai'i Gardens
Ylang ylang blossom notably fragrant
By Heidi Bornhorst
Q. Can you give us some info about the delightfully fragrant ylang ylang? How does it grow? where can I get it and any more of your gardening pearls of wisdom?
A. This is another great and fragrant plant that is kind of old fashioned and not found in Hawai'i gardens that much nowadays.
Cananga odoratum, the ylang ylang, has a fragrant flower.
I consulted with nursery growers Judy and Richard Nii of R.S. Nii nursery. This is a landscape nursery with a large inventory of common and unusual plants way in the back of Hawai'i Kai. They grow ylang ylang from seeds. Judy Nii describes the potted ones they have as a bush that grows and then hangs down, the branches becoming pendant when they flower.
Ylang ylang is also called lanalana. In Malaysia it is called kenanga. Botanists and taxonomists call it Cananga odoratum. (You can see where they got the root word for Cananga, and of course odoratum refers to the perfume of the blossoms). It is in the soursop and custard apple family, Annonaceae.
Ylang ylang has a broad native range — from Myanmar (Burma) to Australia. It is a medium-sized tree with somewhat brittle branches. The leaves are large, about five to nine inches long with pointy tip. The flowers are yellowish green and have six, sinuous droopy long petals. The flowers come out green and have no fragrance, then they become yellowish and intensely fragrant, especially in the early morning hours.
You can wear these flowers in your hair, make a sachet to perfume your fineries and linens. Perfume is made from the blossoms and essential oils are processed from them. It is becoming very popular in aromotherapy. The oil is added to coconut oil and other carriers. Handicraft items, drums, canoes and other wood products are made from the trunks. A fiber and rope can be made from the bark.
A few years back there was a United Plant Savers conference held at the Amy Greenwell Botanical Garden in Captain Cook on the Big Island and then the next day at Ho'omaluhia botanical garden in Kane'ohe. Herbalist and plant medicinal practitioners from all over gathered to talk about and share medicinal uses of plants. One noted herbalist asked me about ylang ylang. She used it all the time in her aromatherapy work but had never seen the plant. She was so happy to see the large, floriferous trees growing at Ho'omaluhia. They are down near the lake, Waimaluhia, and were collected in the wild from the Philippines.
Just so you don't get confused, be aware that there is another plant that has the common name of ylang ylang and that is a climbing vine from India. It is in the same plant family but is not closely related. This is even less commonly seen than the tree ylang ylang.
Heidi Bornhorst is director of Honolulu's botanical gardens — Foster, Lili'uokalani, Wahiawa, Koko Crater, Ho'omaluhia. E-mail her at islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com or write to her c/o The Advertiser Homestyle section, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802.
