Oh, I never thought about that, but oils do get rancid relatively quickly. I'll move mine to the fridge....hubby will love that! I have mix components all over the dining room, plants starting in the hallway, African Violet leaves rooting in plastic bags on the fireplace mantel and now Neem in the fridge. Sure, this is how everyone lives, isn't it?

LOL @ Robert! Fancy finding you here! I see that your obsession (I mean passion) for all fragrant plants are still going strong. ;) Ok so check this out... that one tiny almost opened blossom I picked off the tree and left in my kitchen, well as I said before it filled the room with sweetness. When DH came home... he was like "I closed all the windows why then do I still smell your flowers?" LOL... this is a man who couldn't tell a rose from a plumeria before he met me and now he's noticing fragrances! So as the night progressed... every so often he would look at me and updated me on the fact that he still could smell the sweet fragrance permeated in the air. My reply... I'm going back to buy another tree today! Granted these are HUGE trees, can grow to 25-30 ft BUT they are slow grower so I'm hoping to enjoy them until they get too big. I'll deal with that day when it comes. :) Now to answer your question... for the first 12 years of my life I grew up in Southeast Asia... before moving back to the East Coast in the States. So my childhood was filled w/ adventures, tropical plants and exotic fruits. You know how much I love my Plumeria babies... but I must say if I can only keep ONE plant, then without a doubt it will be my M. Alba. Thank you for the link... I will study it carefully. Luckily for me it's not hard to find M. Alba where I am. Now what else do you like that you can recommend to me? Let's hear it. :) Kemistry - glad to hear you had a chance to smell M. Alba! For some strange reasons, great scent make me very happy!

You got the name corect. The common name is Michelia champaca. I have three plants just like that, the flower and the leaf coloration & appearance. It will bear seeds. The origin comes from Tailand and the border to China. Basically it can be considered as a tropical type Magnolia.

Hi Longriver, there are variations between Japanese types, Formosa types, etc. The size/color of the leaves and flowers are different. Some types are large-leafed tall trees like Michelia champaca. However, the small-leafed shrub-types are popular in the gardens. All types of M compressa are fragrant. Mine has citrus scent  comparable to that of a blooming lemon-tree. Carrie, for your less-fragrant Michelias, you should wait until they grow into a tree. The number of opening flowers contributes to the over-all effects. The health of a plant and proper fertilization also contribute to the fragrance of small sticks. You can then evaluate the fragrance. Another method is to hand-pick one. When you find a desirable mature plant, collect many seeds. Some of the off-springs will inherit the fragrant property. Sometimes, an enhanced cultivar can be identified/produced quickly. You can then name it after yourself; and make another million Â