Perfume

Wulej (Clerodendrum inerme - Verbenaceae)

Blossoms picked from uncultivated pandanus, edwaan tūar, and the flowers of utilomar, wūlej, and kōņņat, are used alone or in combination to perfume coconut oil. Male pandanus flowers, tūar, are "thought to be aphrodisiac in effect" (Stone 1963). Blossoms from meria, an introduced ornamental tree (plumeria), have more recently become the flower of choice for perfuming coconut oil. Nowadays the oil is boiled with these blossoms and a light green fungus from the trunk of a coconut or breadfruit tree is then added to preserve the sweet smell in the oil. Aik, drift cedar, or other aromatic wood, is collected, saved, and used in perfume. If the oil spoils, shoots of the kāmeñ tree (Dodonaea viscosa) counteract the odor.

Utilomar (Clerodendrum inerme - Verbenaceae)
 

 

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