Sandalwood

Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sandalwood is often cited as one of the most expensive woods in the world. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, some species of these slow-growing trees have suffered over-harvesting in the past. The nomenclature and the taxonomy of the genus are derived from this species' historical and widespread use. Etymologically it is ultimately derived from Sanskrit चन्दन Chandana (čandana), meaning "wood for burning incense" and related to candrah, "shining, glowing" and the Latin candere, to shine or glow. It arrived in English via Late Greek, Medieval Latin and Old French in the 14th or 15th century. The sandalwood is indigenous to the tropical belt of peninsular India, the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia The main distribution is in the drier tropical regions of India and the Indonesian islands of Timor and Sumba. Sandalwoods are medium-sized hemiparasitic trees, and part of the same botanical family as European mistletoe. Sandalwood is indigenous to the tropical belt of the peninsular India, Malay Archipelago and northern Australia. The main distribution is in the drier tropical regions of India and the Indonesian islands of Timor and Sumba. It spread to other regions through the Incense trade route by the vast Indian and Arab mercantile networks and the Chinese maritime trade routes until the sixteenth century CE. The sandalwood of peninsular India and Malay Archipelago supported most consumption in East Asia and West Asia during the time of the Incense trade route before the commercialization of sandalwood plantations (Santalum spicatum) in Australia and China. Although sandalwood album (Santalum album) is still considered to have the best and original quality in terms of religion and alternative medicine.