Pterocarpus santalinus | |
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in Talakona forest, in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Pterocarpus |
Species: | P. santalinus |
Binomial name | |
Pterocarpus santalinus | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Pterocarpus santalinus, with the common names red sanders, red saunders, Yerra Chandanam, Chenchandanam, red sandalwood, Rakta Chandana, and rakto chandon, is a species of Pterocarpus endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats mountain range of South India. [1] [3] This tree is valued for the rich red colour of its wood, and in recent years there has been a marked uptick in the use of red sandalwood as a component of incense, especially in the west. The tree is not to be confused with the aromatic Santalum sandalwood trees that grow natively in Southern India.
Pterocarpus santalinus is a light-demanding small tree, growing to 8 metres (26 ft) tall with a trunk 50–150 cm diameter. It is fast-growing when young, reaching 5 metres (16 ft) tall in three years, even on degraded soils. It is not frost tolerant, being killed by temperatures of −1 °C.
The leaves are alternate, 3–9 cm long, trifoliate with three leaflets.
The flowers are produced in short racemes. The fruit is a pod 6–9 cm long containing one or two seeds. [4] [5]
The wood has historically been valued in China, particularly during the Qing dynasty periods, and is referred to in Chinese as zitan (紫檀) and spelt tzu-t'an by earlier western authors such as Gustav Ecke, who introduced classical Chinese hardwood furniture to the west. [6] An exquisite chair made of red sandalwood can be seen today in China's Forbidden City in Beijing, inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony , and once used by the emperors of the Qing dynasty.
Due to its slow growth and rarity, furniture made from zitan is difficult to find and can be expensive. [7] It has been one of the most prized woods for millennia.
In India red sandalwood is one main and lucrative market for smugglers, as a high price is paid for this wood in China. Since the exporting of sandalwood is illegal in India, the underground market is growing and there are a number of arrests every year of those trying to smuggle this wood to China.
The other form of zitan is from the species Dalbergia louvelii , Dalbergia maritima , and Dalbergia normandii , all similar species named in trade as bois de rose or violet rosewood which when cut are bright crimson purple changing to dark purple again. It has a fragrant scent when worked. [6]
Red sandalwood has been used for making the bridge and also the neck of the Japanese musical instrument shamisen. [8] The heartwood is preferred for this purpose.
Pterocarpus santalinus is used in traditional herbal medicine as an antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, tonic, hemorrhage, dysentery, aphrodisiac, anti-hyperglycaemic and diaphoretic. [9] [10]
Red sandalwood grown on the shale subsoils, at altitudes around 750 metres (2,460 ft), and in semi-arid climatic conditions gives a distinctive wavy grain margin. Lumber pieces with the wavy grain margin are graded as "A" grade. Red sandalwood with wavy grain margins sells at higher prices than the standard wood.
Pterocarpus santalinus was listed as an Endangered species by the IUCN, because of overexploitation for its timber in South India; however, it was later reclassified to Near Threatened in 2018, as the scale of this loss is not properly known. [11] It is also listed in the appendix II of the CITES, which means that a certificate is required in order to export it, that should only be granted if the trade is not detrimental to the survival of the species. [12]
Pterocarpus is a pantropical tree genus in the Fabaceae family. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Pterocarpus clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of Pterocarpus yield valuable timber traded as padauk, usually pronounced or ; other common names are mukwa or narra.
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.
Dalbergia melanoxylon in french Granadille d'Afrique is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to seasonally dry regions of Africa from Senegal east to Eritrea, to southern regions of Tanzania to Mozambique and south to the north-eastern parts of South Africa. The tree is an important timber species in its native areas; it is used in the manufacture of musical instruments, sculptures vinyago in Swahili language and fine furnitures. Populations and genomic resources for genetic biodiversity maintenance in parts of its native range are threatened by overharvesting due to poor or absent conservation planning and by the species' low germination rates.
Pterocarpus indicus is a species of Pterocarpus native to southeastern Asia, northern Australasia, and the western Pacific Ocean islands, in Cambodia, southernmost China, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Ryukyu Islands, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus Dalbergia, but other woods are often called rosewood. Rosewood takes a high polish and is used for luxury furniture-making, flooring, musical instruments, and turnery.
Sri Venkateswara National Park is a national park and biosphere reserve in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. The total area of the park is 353 km2. The park is known for its many waterfalls, including the Talakona, Gundalakona and Gunjana. As the Government of India declared the Seshachalam Hills as one of the biosphere reserves of India in 2010, this national park becomes the part of it.
Pterocarpus angolensis is a species of Pterocarpus native to southern Africa, in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The name Kiaat, although Afrikaans, is sometimes used outside South Africa as well. In Zimbabwe, depending on what region you are in, it is known as Mukwa( which it is also called in Zambia) or Mubvamaropa.
Ceylon ebony or Diospyros ebenum, is a species of tree in the genus Diospyros and the family Ebenaceae. The tree produces valuable black wood.
Tipuana tipu, also known as tipa, rosewood and pride of Bolivia, is a South American tree.
Pterocarpus macrocarpus, or Burma padauk, is a tree native to the seasonal tropical forests of southeastern Asia: in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has been naturalized in India and the Caribbean.
Santalum album is a small tropical tree, and the traditional source of sandalwood oil. It is native to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Western Australia. It is commonly known as the true sandalwood, white sandalwood, or Indian sandalwood. It was one of the plants exploited by Austronesian arboriculture and it was introduced by Austronesian sailors to East Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia during the ancient spice trade, becoming naturalized in South India by at least 1300 BCE. It was greatly valued for its fragrance, and is considered sacred in some religions like Hinduism. 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 the lack of sizable trees has essentially eliminated its former use for fine woodworking. The plant is long-lived, but harvest is only viable after many years.
Dalbergia sissoo, known commonly as North Indian rosewood or shisham, is a fast-growing, hardy, deciduous rosewood tree native to the Indian subcontinent and southern Iran. D. sissoo is a large, crooked tree with long, leathery leaves and whitish or pink flowers.
Dalbergia cochinchinensis, the Thailand rosewood, Siamese rosewood, or tracwood, is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.
Dalbergia nigra, commonly known as the Bahia rosewood, jacarandá-da-Bahia, Brazilian rosewood, Rio rosewood, jacarandá-do-brasil, pianowood, caviúna, graúna, jacarandá-una or obuina is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae.
Dalbergia odorifera, fragrant rosewood or Chinese rosewood, is a species of true rosewood in the genus Dalbergia. It is a small or medium-sized tree, 10–15 metres (33–49 ft) tall. It is endemic to China and occurs in Fujian, Hainan, Zhejiang, and Guangdong.
Dalbergia tonkinensis is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. It is a small tree, 5–13 metres (16–43 ft) tall, found in Hainan Island of China and Vietnam. It is threatened by habitat loss and overexploitation for timber.
Anisoptera costata is an endangered species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The specific epithet costata means "ribbed", referring to the prominent venation of the leaf blade. A huge emergent tree up to 65 m high, it is found in evergreen and semi-evergreen lowland tropical seasonal forests of Indo-Burma and in mixed dipterocarp forests of Malesia.
Pterocarpus santalinoides is a tree species in the legume family (biology) (Fabaceae); it is locally known as mututi.
Tropical evergreen forests of India are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea, the coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the north-east. Small remnants of semi-evergreen forest are found in Odisha state. Semi-evergreen forest is more extensive than the evergreen formation all over India because evergreen forests tend to degrade to evergreen with human interference. There are substantial differences between the three major evergreen forest regions. The average annual rainfall is 69-79 inches.
Dalbergia latifolia is a premier timber species, also known as the Indian rosewood. It is native to low-elevation tropical monsoon forests of south east India. Some common names in English include rosewood, Bombay blackwood, roseta rosewood, East Indian rosewood, reddish-brown rosewood, Indian palisandre, and Java palisandre. Its Indian common names are beete, and satisal or sitsal. The tree grows to 40 metres (130 ft) in height and is evergreen, but locally deciduous in drier subpopulations.
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