Santalum is a genus of woody
flowering plants, the best known and commercially valuable of which is the Indian
sandalwood tree,
S. album. Members of the genus are
trees or
shrubs. Most are root
parasites which
photosynthesize their own food, but tap the roots of other species for water and inorganic
nutrients. Several species, most notably
S. album, produce highly aromatic wood, used for scents and
perfumes and for
herbal medicine. About 25 known species range across the
Indomalaya,
Australasia, and
Oceania ecozones, from
India through
Malesia to the Pacific Islands, as far as
Hawaii and the
Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of
South America.