Sandalwood tree (Santalum album)

[I_AM]

After a quick flick through the posts i failed to see any mention the Sandalwood tree, i totally Adore Sandalwood, does anyone here have one ? I have ordered some seeds from Australia, will have them in around 4 weeks

 

[Becky]

I love the smell of sandalwood, but I don't have one. I understand that they are parasitic so will need a host tree, do you already have one in mind?

 

[I_AM]

Hi, no i have not decided yet, i have heard that Sandalwood grows well with hosts such as Acacia, Albizzia, Bombusa, Cassia, Erythrina, Erythroxylon, Gossypium, Pongamia, Semecarpus, Strychnos, Tectona, Thespesia, Vitex and Zocypus and a few others, i also heard that there are some it cannot be planted beside. I will probably decide nearer the time, as i don't know much at all about some of the recommended host plants, so there is still some reading to be done

 

[Beth_B]

I have no clue I_AM, but I am impressed with your willingness to try growing different and not so common things.

My only experience with sandalwood is incense; sandalwood and patchouli are two of my favourite scents. Which probably says a lot about my advancing age lol.

 

[Dinu]

It grows so well here on its own! Cuckoos love the fruit and mostly the seeds are dispersed by this bird through its poop. The tree, matured ones, are a favourite target for poachers for the value of the centre portion of the trunk. Trees not mature enough [about 20 yrs to mature] will not yield oil. Distillation process is cumbersome.
We had a tree that was nice.... and the poachers took the chunk away! 2008. I used to eat the berry. Some photos I took got lost in an EHD that stopped working.
The tree has divine importance here. The oil is a wonderful cure for a few ailments, ayurvedic preparations. Who doesn't love its scent - divine! The paste ground from the wood is a good face pack/coolant.

 

[Marck]

Sandlewoods (Santalum spp.) are hemi-parasitic trees and shrubs, in the Sandlewood Family (Santalaceae), famed for their fragrant wood and essential oils, used for incense and perfume. There are approximately nineteen species, native to tropical Asia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Hawaii, the Bonin Islands, and many other islands in the southern Pacific.

Most unfortunately, due to over-harvesting, many species of Sandlewood are now rare and endangered.
Santalum fernandezianum, endemic to the Juan Fernandez Islands, near Chile, is already believed to be extinct.