RED SANDAL

Scientific name: Pterocarpus santalinus
Family: Fabaceae
Conservation status: Endangered Encyclopedia of Life
Tribe: Dalbergieae
Higher classification: Pterocarpus
Subfamily: Faboideae

Pterocarpus Santalinus (known as Red Sandalwood) , also has common names as Red Sanders, Red Sandalwood, Rakt Chandan, and Saunderswood, is a species of Pterocarpus endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats mountain range of South India. The wood is not aromatic. This tree is valued for the rich red colour of its wood. The tree is not to be confused with the aromatic Santalum sandalwood trees that grow natively in South India. It is also known as Almug, Lal Chandan (India), Ragat Chandan, Rukhto Chandan and Undum

Red Sandalwood is a light-demanding small tree that grows to 8 metres (26 ft) tall with a trunk 50–150 cm in diameter. It is fast-growing when it is in young age, that reaches to 5 metres (16 ft) tall within 3 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.

Red Sandalwood, is a native and endemic to India and can only be found in the southern parts of the Eastern Ghats. It is a small tree that grows to 5-8 meters in height and has a dark grayish bark. The timber is highly demanded domestically and internationally, and especially in East Asian countries. Red Sandalwood timber is used for carvings, furniture, poles, and house posts. The rare “wavy” grain variant is highly valued in Japan for its acoustic properties and is used to make musical instruments. In addition, the timber is also exploited for the extraction of santalin (a red pigment used as dye and colorant in food), medicine and cosmetics. Its IUCN Red List status is “endangered.”

Uses: 

•  It is used in Timber
•  It is used in Shamisen
•  It is used in Medicines

Timber

The wood has historically been valued in China, particularly during the Qing Dynasty periods, and is referred to in Chinese as zitan (??) and spelt tzu-t'an by earlier western authors such as Gustav Ecke, who introduced classical Chinese hardwood furniture to the west. 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. It has been one of the most prized woods for millennia.

In India 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 luovelii, Dalbergia maritima, and Dalbergia normandi, 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.

Shamisen

Red sandalwood has been used for making the bridge and also the neck of the Japanese musical instrument Shamisen. It has great demand for the heartwood

Medicines

1. It is used I'm Traditional Herbal medicine as an Anti-Pyretic, Anti-inflammatory.

2. It is used as Anthelmintic Tonic, Hemorrhage Dysentery. 

3. It's is used as Aphrodisiac. 

4. It is used as Anti-Hyperglycemic and Diaphoretic. 

5. Fine powder for internal consumption (In capsules).

6. Fine powder in the form of paste for application on skin.

7. Fine powder used in powder formulations.

8. Extract used in liquids for coloring a formulation.

9. Extract used as tablet coating colorant.

Grading

Red sandalwood after 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.

Conservative Status

Red Sandalwood 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.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.