''Cananga'' (ultimately from

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesia ...

*''kanaŋa'') is a small genus of trees in the family

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

, native to areas from

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

through

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

to Australia, and introduced elsewhere. One of its species, ''

Cananga odorata ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Vie ...

'', is important as the source of the perfume

ylang-ylang ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Vie ...

Species

Two species are recognized: * '' Cananga brandisiana'' (Pierre) Saff., syn. ''Cananga latifolia'' (Hook.f. & Thomson) Finet & Gagnep. * ''

'' (Lam.) Hook.f. & Thomson ''Cananga latifolia'' is listed as a separate species in some sources, but the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

, ''Unona latifolia'' Hook.f. & Thomson, is a later

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

of ''Unona latifolia'' Dunal and so is not an acceptable name. ''Unona brandisiana'' was explicitly proposed as a replacement name.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3264724 Annonaceae genera