Sandalwood

sandalwood, name for several fragrant tropical woods, especially for Santalum album, an evergreen partially parasitic tree either native to India or introduced there centuries ago. It is used for joss sticks in Buddhist religious ceremonies and funeral rites and is made into ornamental wares. Oil distilled from the wood is used extensively as a perfume and has a place in medicine. About 19 species of Santalum are distributed over the Hawaiian and other Pacific islands. Red sandalwood obtained from a leguminous tree (Adenanthera pavonina), also native to India, was probably the almug of the Bible. It is used chiefly as the source of a dye. Sandalwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnaliopsida, order Santalales, family Santalaceae.

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sandalwood

Any semiparasitic plant of the genus Santalum (family Santalaceae; the sandalwood family), or its wood, especially the wood of the true, or white, sandalwood, Santalum album, which is used in making furniture and from which oil used in making perfumes, soaps, candles, and incense is derived. The approximately 10 species of Santalum are distributed throughout South Asia and the islands of the South Pacific. The sandalwood family contains more than 400 species of semiparasitic shrubs, herbs, and trees in about 36 genera, found in tropical and temperate regions. In some genera the leaves are reduced to scalelike structures. The green leaves contain some chlorophyll, which allows the plants to make food, but all sandalwoods are parasites to a certain extent, obtaining water and nutrients from their hosts. Most, including S. album, are root parasites, but some are stem parasites.

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sandalwood, sandal

1. any of several evergreen hemiparasitic trees of the genus Santalum, esp S. album (white sandalwood), of S Asia and Australia, having hard light-coloured heartwood: family Santalaceae

2. the wood of any of these trees, which is used for carving, is burned as incense, and yields an aromatic oil used in perfumery

3. any of various similar trees or their wood, esp Pterocarpus santalinus (red sandalwood), a leguminous tree of SE Asia having dark red wood used as a dye

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sandalwood [′san·dəl‚wu̇d]

(botany)

Any species of the genusSantalumof the sandalwood family (Santalaceae) characterized by a fragrant wood.

S. album.A parasitic tree with hard, close-grained, aromatic heartwood used in ornamental carving and cabinetwork.

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Sandalwood 

(Santalum album), an evergreen tree of the family Santalaceae. The tree reaches a height of about 10 m. The sandalwood usually parasitizes the roots of sugarcane, bamboo, and palm, but it is also capable of developing independently. Sandalwood roots form suckers (haustoria) that penetrate the root tissues of other plants and suck out their nutrient substances. The sandalwood grows primarily in teak forests in India, on the Malay Peninsula, and on the islands of the Malay Archipelago. It is cultivated in India. The fragrant, yellow trunk wood contains 3–6 percent essential oil in its pith. The oil is used in perfume and medicine. The wood, souvenirs manufactured from the wood, and the essential oil are exported. Other species of Santalum having fragrant wood are also called sandalwood, for example, S. cunninghamii from New Zealand and S. austro-caledonicum from Australia and New Caledonia. Some species of the genera Derris and Bafia that have aromatic wood are also called sandalwood.

S. S. MORSHCHIKHINA