plant
Ylang-ylang
Cananga odorata
Origin
Distilled chiefly in the Comoro Islands, Madagascar (notably Nosy Be), and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The flowers are picked early in the morning from cultivated trees and steam-distilled in fractions, the earliest 'extra' fraction being the most prized and delicate.
The smell
A creamy, intensely sweet banana-like floral that opens with a narcotic, almost rubbery richness. Beneath the sweetness runs a custardy, slightly medicinal note with hints of jasmine and clove. The drydown is soft, balsamic and faintly powdery, lingering with a warm tropical creaminess.
Key quality
It is distilled in successive fractions, allowing perfumers to select grades from the rich, refined 'extra' to the heavier 'third' for different effects.
Historical use
In Indonesia and the Philippines the flowers were traditionally strewn on the beds of newlyweds. The oil was a key ingredient in the 19th-century hair pomade Macassar oil, which gave rise to the antimacassar cloth used to protect upholstered chairs.