Sandalwood

Group: Woods and Mosses

Common name:
Sandalwood, Indian sandalwood, Fragrant sandalwood, White Sandalwood , Chandan, Sandal

Botanical name: Santalum album

Family: Santalaceae (Sandalwood family)

Origin: India, Indonesia, Ceylon, Australia, Pacific Islands, etc. The finest quality comes from the forests of India, mostly from Karnataka, Mysore, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

Plant Part: Wood

Extraction Method: Steam

Colour: Golden Orange with brown tones

Consistency: Medium to Viscous

Note: Base

Aroma Strength: Medium
 

The documented use of Sandalwood goes back 4000 years to India, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Many temples and structures were built from Sandalwood. In Egypt, people used it in embalming.

Sandalwood is a small evergreen tree growing to 18 m in height and 2.4 m in girth, with slender drooping branches. The tree reaches its full maturity in 60 to 80 years, which is when the center of the slender trunk (the heartwood) has achieved its greatest oil content.

The sapwood is white and odorless while the heartwood is yellowish brown and strongly scented. Leaves are 3.5 to 4 cm in length, elliptic, lanceolate glabrous and petiolate; inflorescence terminal or axillary, paniculate cyme; flowers are bisexual, many, and brownish purple in color; perianth campanulate; there are 4 stamens, exerted, alternating with 4 rounded obtuse scales. The sandal tree grows almost exclusively in the forests of Karnataka, followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh (India), Timor Islands of Indonesia etc. The sandalwood tree is not felled, but is instead uprooted in the rainy season, when the roots are richer in the precious essential oil. The best quality oil comes from the Indian province of Mysore and Tamil Nadu.

The fragrance of sandalwood has relaxing properties and also reduces stress and promotes restful sleep. It is reputed to be an aphrodisiac. Sandalwood oil provides perfumes with a striking woody base note. Sandalwood smells not unlike other wood scents, except it has a bright and fresh edge with few natural analogues. When used in
smaller proportions in a perfume, it is an excellent fixative to enhance the other fragrances. The oil from sandalwood is widely used in the cosmetic industry and is expensive.

Sandalwood is a part of traditional medical systems such as Chinese medicine and the Indian healing science known as Ayurveda. Sandalwood is commonly used for cosmetics and skin care, being useful for dry, cracked and chapped skin, rashes and acne. It is suitable for all skin types and is non-toxic.

Sandalwood is used in various ways in the spiritual traditions of the India. It is considered beneficial for meditation and for calming and focusing the human mind. It is used as incense in temples or on personal altars to remind us of the fragrant realms of the heavens. Deities of various kinds are fashioned from Sandalwood, then installed in a shrine or temple or placed upon the home altar. When Sandalwood was more abundant, the wood was used to construct parts of temples. Drops of sandalwood oils can be applied to the forehead, the temples or rubbed between the eyebrows before beginning rituals. In this way, it helps to set the stage and prepare the mind to begin its inward journey. This treatment also used for meditation.

Sandalwood is highly prized as a wood for carving and is also used for making souvenirs and other items requiring fine workmanship. In India, the sapwood of sandal is used for wood turning, particularly toy-making; the wood comes mainly from trimmings and immature trees killed by disease. Sawdust from heartwood prepared for distillation is valuable enough to be collected and sold for use as incense for religious purposes, as well as for scenting clothes and cupboards.

Images: album cover of sandalwood by Clinton Steeds,  sandalwood forest by madpai, Sandalwood Church by jeffk
 

Perfumes and Colognes With Sandalwood