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.

---

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.