Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past.
Nomenclature The nomenclature and the taxonomy of the genus are derived from this species' historical and widespread use. Etymologically it is ultimately derived from Sanskrit चन्दन Chandana (čandana), meaning "wood for burning incense" and related to candrah, "shining, glowing" and the Latin candere, to shine or glow. It arrived in English via Late Greek, Medieval Latin and Old French in the 14th or 15th century.
True sandalwoods
Sandalwoods are medium-sized hemiparasitic trees, and part of the same botanical family as European mistletoe. True sandalwoods are native to Insular Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. The main cultivated species, Santalum album, were introduced in ancient times into mainland Asia by Austronesian traders and have since naturalized in South Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia, southeastern China, and Taiwan. The main distribution of both wild and introduced sandalwood trees are in the drier tropical regions of India and the Indonesian islands of Timor and Sumba. S. album spread to other regions through the Austronesian maritime trade network, the incense trade route, and the Maritime Silk Road, until the sixteenth century CE. The sandalwood produced in peninsular India and the Malay Archipelago supported most consumption in East Asia and West Asia during the time of the incense trade route before the commercialization of Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) in sandalwood plantations in Australia and China, although sandalwood album (Santalum album) is still considered to have the best and original quality in terms of religion and alternative medicine. Santalum spicatum is marketed as the notable member of this group today by merchants because of its stable sources; others in the genus also have fragrant wood.
S. album is a threatened species native to dry tropical regions of Indonesia (Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands), the Philippines, and Western Australia. It was one of the plants exploited by Austronesian arboriculture and it was introduced by Austronesian sailors to Mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia, during the ancient spice trade, becoming naturalized in South India by at least 1300 BCE. In India, the principal sandal tracts are most parts of Karnataka and adjoining districts of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The governments steward the land and regulate the harvest of sandalwood trees in India, Pakistan, and Nepal though many trees are illegally cut down. Sandalwood oil prices had risen to US$3,000 per liter by 2017. S. ellipticum, S. freycinetianum, and S. paniculatum, the Hawaiian sandalwood (ʻiliahi), were also used and considered high quality. These three species were exploited between 1790 and 1825 before the supply of trees ran out (a fourth species, S. haleakalae, occurs only in subalpine areas and was never exported). Although S. freycinetianum and S. paniculatum are relatively common today, they have not regained their former abundance or size, and S. ellipticum remains rare. S. yasi, a sandalwood from Fiji and Tonga. S. spicatum is used by aromatherapists and perfumers. The oil concentration differs considerably from other Santalum species. In the 1840s, sandalwood was Western Australia's biggest export earner. Oil was distilled for the first time in 1875, and by the turn of the 20th century, production of Australian sandalwood oil was intermittent. However, in the late 1990s, Western Australian sandalwood oil enjoyed a revival and by 2009 had peaked at more than 20,000 kg (44,100 lb) per year – much of which went to the fragrance industries in Europe. Although overall production has decreased, by 2011, a significant percentage of its production was heading to the chewing tobacco industry in India alongside Indian sandalwood – the chewing tobacco market being the largest market for both oils in 2012. Other species: Commercially, various other species, not belonging to Santalum species, are also used as "sandalwood."
Unrelated plants Various unrelated plants with scented wood and also referred to as "sandalwood," but are not in the true sandalwood genus:
Adenanthera pavonina – sandalwood tree, red or false red sandalwood Baphia nitida – camwood, also known as African sandalwood Eremophila mitchellii – sandalwood; false sandalwood (also sandalbox) Myoporum platycarpum – sandalwood; false sandalwood Myoporum sandwicense – bastard sandalwood, false sandalwood Osyris lanceolata – African sandalwood Osyris tenuifolia – east African sandalwood Pterocarpus santalinus – false red sandalwood growing in southern Indian regions
Production
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