Ylang Ylang: the flower of flowers
Oshadhi
Materia Aromatica · Distillation Edition
Ylang Ylang — the flower of flowers
Cananga odorata
Family
Annonaceae
Origin
Madagascar
Comoros
Plant Part
Flowers
Method
Fractional steam
distillation
Ylang ylang is the only essential oil distilled in fractions. Most oils are taken from the still as a single run — start to finish, captured as one. Ylang is different. Over fifteen to twenty hours, the distiller draws off the oil at intervals. Each fraction is bottled separately. Each carries a different register of the same flower.
The name itself comes from Tagalog. Ilang-ilan — the rare one, the flower of flowers.
01 · The flower
Picked at dawn, distilled the same day
Cananga odorata is a tropical tree of the Annonaceae family, native to the Philippines and Indonesia. In the wild it reaches twelve metres. In commercial cultivation — Madagascar, the Comoros, Nosy Be, Réunion — the trees are kept low to enable hand-picking. The flowers are six-petalled, arranged in the 2 × 3 geometry common to the family, opening yellow to greenish, with the darkest yellow blossoms yielding the highest ester content and therefore the finest oil.
The flowers open at dusk and release their aromatic compounds through the night, when the air is cool and still. By dawn, when the harvest begins, the petals carry their fullest expression. Picking is by hand, before the sun warms the volatile molecules away. Distillation begins the same day. Blossoms gathered in the early summer months and the first morning hours produce the most fragrant oils.
The yield is small. Approximately 50 kilograms of fresh flowers for one kilogram of essential oil. The harvest window runs continuously, with peak flowering between May and October.
Madagascar · Nosy Be
Volcanic soils on the small island north of Madagascar. Trees kept low for hand harvesting by the women of Nosy Be. The principal source of Oshadhi’s Complete grade.
Comoros
A volcanic archipelago between Madagascar and the African mainland. The only source of Extra Superior — a grade above Extra, recognised across the trade as the apex of ylang fractional distillation.
02 · The grades
Extra, II, III — and Complete
The early fractions of the distillation run carry the lightest, most volatile aromatic compounds — high in linalool, methyl benzoate, benzyl acetate, geraniol, and the esters that define ylang’s floral signature. As the distillation progresses, the heavier sesquiterpenes emerge — germacrene, caryophyllene, farnesene, cadinene. The oil deepens, sweetens, becomes more grounded.
Each grade is taken from the still at a defined point in this progression. The numbered grades — Extra through III — represent successive fractions. Complete is the entire distillation captured as one oil, from first vapour to final draw. Above all of them sits Extra Superior, sourced only from the Comoros and rated at the highest ester concentration commercially available.
Four oils are stocked. Each functions differently in formulation, in perfumery, and in therapeutic application.
03 · Research
Harmonisation, not sedation
Two clinical inhalation studies conducted at the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Srinakharinwirot University in Thailand examined the physiological and behavioural effects of Cananga odorata essential oil. Both were published in peer-reviewed neuroscience and natural product journals. The findings are unusual.
The first study (24 volunteers, controlled inhalation) found that ylang ylang produced significant decreases in blood pressure and pulse rate alongside significant increases in subjective attentiveness and alertness. The authors concluded the oil’s profile was best characterised as harmonisation rather than relaxation or sedation — a distinction that separates it from the typical ‘calming oil’ framing.
A second study (40 volunteers) confirmed the cardiovascular effects, recording significant decreases in blood pressure with corresponding increases in skin temperature and self-reported calm. Both studies are indexed on PubMed and remain among the most-cited inhalation trials for this species.
04 · Application
Earth-bound floral, applied with care
In the Ayurvedic frame, the elements of ether (akasha) and air — embodied in the mind and the subtle body — must be balanced by the elements of earth and water to maintain a stable connection to the physical body and the world. Ylang ylang sits unusually within this map: a flower whose extreme floral richness carries a distinctly earth-bound quality. Its cooling, moist character is well suited to states of mental agitation, sudden shock, or the spiritual self-isolation that follows grief.
Documented traditional applications include cardiac rhythm support, easing of rapid breathing, and certain skin presentations including acne and irritated skin. The classical protocol is solar plexus massage — five to fifteen drops in a carrier oil, applied over the abdominal region.
For fine perfumery and the lightest top-note work, Extra. For balanced therapeutic blending and the fullest single-grade ylang character, II. For base-note anchoring and chypre construction, III. For diffusion, room work, and the complete olfactory profile of the flower, Complete.
Four grades, one flower
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