Santalum
(from the Persian Chandal, which, in turn, is derived from the Sanscrit Chandana, the name of the tree). SYN. Sirium. ORD. Santalaceae. A genus embracing about eight species of stove, evergreen, glabrous trees or shrubs, closely related, natives of the East Indies, the Malayan Archipelago, Australia, and the Pacific Island. Flowers often larger than in allied genera, in small, axillary or terminal, trichotomous panicles, usually shorter than the leaves, and sometimes almost reduced to simple racemes; perianth tube campanulate or obovate, the lobes four, or rarely five, with a tuft of hairs inside behind each stamen. Leaves opposite or rarely alternate, petiolate, entire, coriaceous or slightly fleshy, penniveined, but the midrib only conspicuous. Two of the species have been introduced, one of which (S. album) yields the Sandal Wood of India. The cultivation of this plant in gardens is not easy. It is supposed to be more or less parasitical on the roots of other plants which grow near it. In India it is extensively grown, but it thrives only under peculiar conditions. Some authorities deny that it is at all parasitical. At Kew, young plants of S. album are inserted in very sandy loam, and grown in a stove temperature. The other introduced species will thrive under similar conditions.
S. album (white). fl. reddish within, campanulate, four-fld; pedicels nearly equalling the perianth tube; panicles terminal and lateral, many-flowered. May. l. ovate-elliptic, acute at base, acute or rarely obtuse at apex, 1 1/2in. to 2 1/2in. long, sometimes varying on the same branch from ovate to ovate to ovate-lanceolate, pale beneath, membranous. h.15ft. East Indies, 1804. Tree. The wood is white or citron-coloured and sweet-scented when dry, and it is much esteemed in India as a perfume. (B. M. 3235.) S. a. myrtifolium (Myrtle-leaved). l. narrower and paler beneath than in the type. Shrub or small tree.
S. obtusifolium (obtuse-leaved). fl. red, few, in small, shortly pedunculate, axillary racemes or cymes, the short pedicels or lateral branches rarely bearing two or three flowers. June. l. opposite, or the uppermost ones rarely alternate, linear-oblong, lanceolate, or broadly oblong, obtuse, 1in. to 2in. long, rather thick, the margins often revolute when drying. h. 6ft. Australia, 1823. A slender shrub, of livid aspect.