Herbarium JCB

Santalum album L.

Family : SANTALACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Santalaceae
Species : Santalum album
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Santalum album L.
Common name : Sandalwood Tree
Vernacular name : Chandana, Shrikand (San.); Chandan (Hin.); Srigandha mara (Kan.)
Collection Nos : KFP 1614, KFP 6553, KFP 11716
Endemism : South India
Key identification features : A small evergreen semi-parasitic native tree. Bark is dark grey with narrow fissures and regularly-shaped scales. Leaves are simple, opposite, shortly-stalked, glossy and elliptic. The bell-shaped flowers are small (about 0.5-0.75 cm), purplish-brown, borne in loose clusters in terminal as well as axillary paniculate cymose inflorescence. Sandalwood trees show considerable variation with respect to shape, size of their leaf and fruit.
Habit : Tree
Native : India
Comments : A sacred tree; the only parasitic tree (a root parasite during early stages of growth); Heartwood yields expensive, scented, medicinal Oil which is of commercial importance.
Conservation Status : Vulnerable (VU)
Distribution Locality : Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chikamagalur, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Davanagere, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kodagu, Kolar, Mysore, Shimoga, Tumkur, Udupi, Uttara Kannada
Floras referred : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan; Saldanha, 1996; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Bangalore; Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga; Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere