Description

Santalum album, Indian white sandalwood, is a small, hemiparasitic evergreen tree of the family Santalaceae, native to the tropical dry deciduous forests of peninsular India — particularly Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh — extending to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. India produces the world’s finest quality sandalwood through the Karnataka Forest Department’s managed Mysore sandalwood programme. The heartwood and roots are extraordinarily fragrant from their content of sesquiterpene alcohols — santalol and bisabolol — which form the basis of the premium sandalwood essential oil traded globally. Known in classical Ayurveda as Chandana and documented extensively across the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita as a premier cooling, Pitta-alleviating, and skin-benefiting botanical, white sandalwood is incorporated in formulations for skin care, fever management, urinary conditions, and aromatic meditation preparations. The species is listed as Vulnerable by IUCN.