Ilang-ilang gubat
Artabotrys hexapetalus · Climbing ylang-ylang
- Names in the book
- Ilag̃-ilag̃ de China, Sp.-Fil.; Alag̃-ilag̃ Son-son, Tag.
- Colours
- flowergreenish-yellowfruityellow
- Native range
- Southern India and Sri Lanka
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Cultivated in gardens.
- Family
- Annonaceae, filed in the book under Anonaceæ
- Printed as
- Artabotrys odoratissimus, R. Br. (A. hamatus, Bl.; Uvaria Sinensis and Unona uncinata, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 20 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Artabotrys hexapetalus, the climbing ylang-ylang, is a shrub found in India through to Burma, southern China and Taiwan, having flowers that are renowned for their exotic fragrance. It is also called ylang-ylang vine or tail grape in English, with a variety of names in other languages. The yellow colored flowers of this plant are very fragrant. The flowers are greenish in the beginning and turn yellow with age. They are long lasting with a fruity pleasant smell. When young it is a shrub that turns into a climber once it attains the height of about 2 meters.
Excerpt from “Artabotrys hexapetalus” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 16 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 1 province: Rizal (2).
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
A decoction of the leaves of this species is used to treat cholera in some of the islands of the Malay group; in the island of Java they use for the same purpose a decoction of the leaves of the species A. suaveolens, Bl., which is commonly called Susog̃ Damulog in the Pampanga dialect. The active principles of these plants are so powerful that one must beware of giving a large dose, as hemorrhages, nervous phenomena and abortion may follow.
Botanical description
A tree 15–18° high with leaves alternate, lanceolate, glabrous, and petioles very short. Flowers very sweet, axillary, solitary. Petals 6, fleshy, concave at the base. Stamens indefinite, closely packed, overlapping. Peduncle curved like a crook.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Advocacy for the Medicinal Plant Artabotrys hexapetalus (Yingzhao) and Antimalarial Yingzhaosu Endoperoxides
- Four unreported aporphine alkaloids with antifungal activities from Artabotrys hexapetalus
- Chromosome-scale genome assembly of Artabotrys hexapetalus provides insights into its evolution and terpenoid biosynthesis