Plant · P-909

Sandalwood

Santalum album

Sandalwood is a slow-growing evergreen tree of dry deciduous and scrub forest on sandy ground across the Indian subcontinent and Malaysia, reaching 4 to 20 metres, most commonly around 10. It is a root hemiparasite: it photosynthesises on its own but taps the roots of a neighbouring plant through haustorial connections for water and mineral nutrients, and cannot be grown to a useful size without a living host nearby, commonly a nitrogen-fixing tree or shrub, planted or already established, before the seedling goes in. It wants full sun to partial shade and fertile, moist but well-drained soil across a pH range of roughly 5 to 9, disliking waterlogged ground while tolerating drought once mature; it grows between about 10 and 38 Celsius and is killed by frost. Its fragrant heartwood, the source of true sandalwood oil, takes decades to develop and is central to incense, perfumery and traditional carving; the fruit is a small edible drupe and the bark has been chewed as a betel-nut substitute, while the tannin-rich bark also has a tanning use. No toxicity is documented. Wild populations are in decline from overharvest for the oil and timber trade, so planting stock should come from a nursery, not wild-collected seed.