SANDALWOOD:From India to Hawaii

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Hawaiian Sandalwood

 

* Hawaiian name: `Ili`ahi

Botanical name: Santalum spp.

Common name: Hawaiian Sandalwood

* Various descriptions:

o Santalum sp., Santalaceae, sandalwood, 'ili-ahi. Shrubs or

trees native in the region from India to Hawaii. These plants are

partially parasitic through root connections to a variety of host

plants. The aromatic wood is highly valued for construction of chests

and boxes. The Hawaiians used the powdered wood as a perfume. The

aromatic oil from the wood is also used for medicine and perfume. The

first profitable export trade of the Hawaiian Kingdom was based on

Sandalwood, during the years 1790 - 1840. Location: Hawaiian hiking

trails.

o `Ili`ahi is group of native Hawaiian sandalwoods, several

species of which are still common on the major islands. They range in

size from shrubs to small trees. The lowland or coastal form is a low

shrub, sometimes with long branches and usually with thicker leaves

than the mountain forms, an adaptation for water conservation. The

upland forms are upright shrubs or small trees. Some species have

long, tubular flowers that are dark red; other species have smaller,

funnel-shaped flowers that are yellowish-green. The flowers lack true

petals and are actually modified sepals.

* Sandalwood oil can only be produced from trees over 30 years old.

* naio (Myoporum sandwicense), is also called false sandalwood

 

* Endemic Hawaiian species:

o Santalum paniculatum

+ found only on Hawai`i island

+ usually shrubby but can also be single-trunked and

acheive the stature of a mid-size tree

o Santalum ellipticum (coastal sandalwood)

+ relatively widespread on all the islands

o Santalum freycinetianum

+ found on most of the islands except Hawai`i

+ S. freycinetianum var. pyrularium

+ S. freycinetianum var. auwahiense, from Maui

+ S. freycinetianum var. lanaiense, Lanai Sandalwood,

listed as endangered

o Santalum haleakalae

+ limited to East Maui

* Found on the Big Island: S. ellipticum, S. paniculatum

 

Santalaceae page on UH Botany site

 

From Say Goodbye to Sandalwood: "The glory days of sandalwood

export to China revived momentarily in 1988 when a Florida investor

logged a patch of 1,000 large and ancient sandalwood trees from his

newly-acquired ranch on the Big Island. These last survivors brought

him a tidy $1 million."

 

* Outside Hawai`i

o Santalum album, White Sandalwood, Sandalwood

o Santalum fernandezianum, endemic to the Robinson Crusoe

Islands, was driven to extinction

o Santalum acuminatum, Quandong, is a small tree occurring

naturally in arid and semi-arid regions of southern Australia.

o Santalum murrayanum Vitter Quondon

o Santalum spicatum Frangrant Sandalwood, western Australian

sandalwood

http://www.vterrain.org/Hawai%60i/Flora/sandalwood.html

 

 

 

By the time Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778,

India's supply of sandalwood was rapidly being depleated. This set the

stage for Hawaii's entry into the international commercial market.

During the 1800s, greedy sandalwood traders made deals with Hawaiian

chiefs to cut down the native sandalwood trees, and masted sailing

ships carried countless thousands of tons of heartwood to India, Asia

and Europe. Soon the native forests of sandalwood and other beautiful

hardwoods (such as Acacia koa) were all cut down, a massive

deforestation from which these island have never recovered.

 

Haleakala sandalwood (Santalum haleakalae) from the slopes of

Haleakala Crater on the Island of Maui. This is one of several species

of sandalwood endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. When this species is in

full bloom, the flowers typically occur in bright red clusters

(panicles) at the ends of the branches.

 

The Hawaiian Islands have several native species of sandalwood,

including shrubby and tree-like species of lower slopes and scrubby

alpine species atop the high volcanic mountains, such as Haleakala

Crater. The ancient Hawaiians named it 'la'au-'ala (sweet wood) and

'ili-ahi. They used it to scent their bark cloth (tapa cloth) by

pounding chips of its heartwood into the bark of paper mulberry. The

fragrance would remain in their clothes for years.

 

A sandalwood Ganesha carving and prayer beads from India.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/images/ganesh1b.gif

The Indian species Santalum album is used for expensive wood carvings;

however, because of the rarity of true sandalwood (Santalum), another

fragrant wood called red sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus) is often

used in Indian carvings. The latter species belongs to the legume

family (Fabaceae) and is the source of a blood red dye.