Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_cananga_odorata
Ylang-ylang
Cananga odorata
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About Ylang-ylang
Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Native from mainland Southeast Asia through Malesia to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northeastern Australia. Flora and agroforestry treatments place it in humid lowland tropics and moist valleys, including moist evergreen forest, where it favors bright sites and fertile sandy-loam or volcanic soils. These native-range habitats do not imply a particular site or naturalized population on Kauaʻi. Historical forestry records document planting on Kauaʻi; these records do not establish present survival or naturalization.
Kauaʻi evidence
Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 9 plants under Cananga odorata across 1 entries dated 1943. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Cananga odorata
- Common names
- Ylang-ylang · perfume tree · cananga
- Other names
- Cananga odorata · ylang-ylang · perfume tree · cananga · Uvaria odorata · Canangium odoratum
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Recorded on Kauaʻi
- Origin
- Introduced
- Conservation status
- Not yet assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-10-06
- Evidence limits
- Reviewed historical planting and cultivation records do not establish present survival, current extent, or naturalization on Kauaʻi. Public locality is island level only.
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Not yet assessed
- Food and resource needs
- Not yet assessed
- Reproduction
- Not yet assessed
- Shelter
- Not yet assessed
- Growth form
- Evergreen tropical tree
Threats and conservation
- Monitoring
- Not yet assessed
- Data gaps
- Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Not yet assessed
- Seasonal description
- Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. Native from mainland Southeast Asia through Malesia to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and northeastern Australia. Flora and agroforestry treatments place it in humid lowland tropics and moist valleys, including moist evergreen forest, where it favors bright sites and fertile sandy-loam or volcanic soils. These native-range habitats do not imply a particular site or naturalized population on Kauaʻi. Historical forestry records document planting on Kauaʻi; these records do not establish present survival or naturalization.
Sources and further reading
- https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:72580-1
- https://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200008514
- https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Cananga_odorata.PDF
- https://www.ipni.org/n/72580-1
- https://ntbg.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2018_NTBG_Living_Collections_Catalog.pdf
- https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/47617.pdf
- https://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/publications/pdf/tr75.pdf