Sandalwood - plant profile

Names

Sandalwood, East Indian sandalwood (English)
Chandan, chandal, sandal (Hindi)
Chandana, ananditam, taliaparnam (Sanskrit)
Chandan, peetchandan (Bengal)
Sandanam, ulocidam, kulavuri (Tamil)

Botanical name: Santalum album
Family: Santalaceae, the sandalwood family

The plant

Botanical drawing of a sandalwood tree.
Image: Sandalwood drawing from the Calcutta Botanical Garden.

Sandalwood is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree, sometimes growing to 20 m high. It generally grows in open forest. It is a semi-parasitic plant that uses nutrients from host species to help it grow. Over 300 plants have been recorded as hosts, which can include nearby grasses, herbs, shrubs or trees.

Trunk - sapwood is white and unscented. Heartwood is strongly aromatic, with an oily feel and yellowish colour. The wood is widely used in carving.

Flowers - from the age of about 3 years, it flowers twice a year during March to April and September to October.

There are about 19 species of Santalum, but sandalwood has the highest oil content. Other Santalum species occurring in Australia and the Pacific islands have been, or are, harvested for their fragrant wood.

More images of Sandalwood