The Santalales are an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions. It derives its name from its type genus Santalum (sandalwood). Mistletoe is the common name for a number of parasitic plants within the order.
Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant.
The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants which, like other members of Santalales, are partially parasitic on other plants. Its flowers are bisexual or, by abortion, unisexual. Modern treatments of the Santalaceae include the family Viscaceae (mistletoes), previously considered distinct.
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.
Santalum is a genus of woody flowering plants in the Santalaceae family, 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 Indomalayan, Australasian, and Oceanian realms, from India through Malesia to the Pacific Islands, as far as Hawaiʻi and the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of South America.
Santalum spicatum, the Australian sandalwood, also Waang and other names (Noongar) and Dutjahn (Martu), is a tree native to semi-arid areas at the edge of Southwest Australia, in the state of Western Australia. It is also found in South Australia, where it is protected and listed as a vulnerable species. It is traded as sandalwood, and its sandalwood oil has been used as an aromatic and a food source over history. S. spicatum is one of four Santalum species occurring in Australia.
Exocarpos is a genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. They are found throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Viscum is a genus of about 70–100 species of mistletoes, native to temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Its name is the origin of the English word viscous, after the Latin viscum, a sticky bird lime made from the plants' berries.
Santalum album, or Indian sandalwood, is a small tropical tree, and the traditional source of sandalwood oil. It is native to southern India and Southeast Asia. It is considered sacred in some religions like Hinduism, and some cultures place great significance on its fragrant qualities. However, the high value of the species has caused over-exploitation, to the point where the wild population is vulnerable to extinction. Indian sandalwood still commands high prices for its essential oil owing to its high alpha santalol content, but due to lack of sizable trees it is no longer used for fine woodworking as before. The plant is long-lived, but harvest is only viable after many years.
Osyris lanceolata, also known as African sandalwood, watta bush or Camwood, is used for its scented wood and to extract essential oil. The semi-parasitic plant is found from South Africa to Zimbabwe and east Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda; northwest Africa; the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and Macaronesia. It grows in rocky areas or along the margins of dry forest, but is usually not abundant in any one place.
Santalum lanceolatum is an Australian tree of the family Santalaceae. It is commonly known as desert quandong, northern sandalwood, sandalwood, or true sandalwood and in some areas as burdardu. The mature height of this plant is variable, from 1 to 7 m. The flowers are green, white, and cream, appearing between January and October. The species has a distribution throughout central Australia, becoming scattered or unusual in more southern regions.
Santalum murrayanum, commonly known as the bitter quandong, is an Australian plant in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. The Noongar name for the plant is coolyar.
Sandalwood is the common name of many species of plants and their wood and oils.
Santalum austrocaledonicum, or New Caledonia sandalwood, is a sandalwood tree from the family Santalaceae. It is a small tree with gray bark and green leaves, and is parasitic. Most have been removed from their habitat due to logging; very few trees remain in the wild.
Osyris compressa is a facultatively hemiparasitic, mainly South African plant of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. Until recently, the favoured binomial name was Colpoon compressum, but around 2001, the genus Colpoon was included in Osyris on the basis of comparative DNA studies. That assignment is not final, however, and according to the Kew Gardens plant list, Colpoon compressum P.J.Bergius, though still in review, is the accepted name.
Osyris alba, common name osyris, is a small perennial plant in the genus Osyris belonging to the Santalaceae family.
Osyris daruma is a species of plant in the family Santalaceae.
Anthobolus is a genus of flowering shrubs in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. The genus comprises 3 species, all endemic to Australia. They are dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Buckleya is an Asian and American genus of hemiparasitic shrubs in the sandalwood family. It is named for Samuel Botsford Buckley. Buckleya is also known as Piratebush. Plants of this species are dioecious, meaning they are either bear either male and female flowers.
Pyrularia is a small genus of shrubs or small trees in the sandalwood family (Santalaceae) which contains two species, Pyrularia pubera and Pyrularia edulis. P. pubera grows in the eastern United States and P. edulis grows in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Both species are parasitic plants, specifically hemiparasites, which while still photosynthetic, will also parasitize the roots of other plants around them.
