Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_santalum_album

Indian sandalwood

Santalum album

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About Indian sandalwood

Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Kew currently accepts Santalum album L., native from Jawa to northern Australia; its distribution also includes the Philippines, while India is listed as introduced. Regional accounts describe dry deciduous forest, scrub and monsoon thicket. Roots form hemiparasitic attachments to neighboring plants. Historical government records document planting on Kauaʻi within the 1910–1960 forestry ledger period; species-specific years have not been extracted. The 2015 government management plan lists Indian sandalwood as Cultivated in its botanical appendix, without an exact taxon survey date. Corn’s 1977 vegetation account, quoted by that plan, describes planting soon after the reserve was established in 1944, without giving an exact species planting year. This evidence does not establish present survival or naturalization. Public occurrence is island-level only.

Kauaʻi evidence

Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence. The 1918–1959 Kauaʻi reforestation working register records 7,651 plants under Santalum album across 12 entries dated 1936–1955. These are recorded planting quantities, not counts of surviving trees, and they do not by themselves establish current persistence, naturalization, or ecological impact. Source: Kauaʻi Reforestation Plantings 1918–1959 working register (user-supplied; reconciled 6 October 2026).

Names and classification

Scientific name: Santalum album
Common names: Indian sandalwood · Sandalwood · East Indian sandalwood
Other names: Santalum album · Indian sandalwood · Sandalwood · East Indian sandalwood
Record type: Species

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Kauaʻi occurrence: Recorded on Kauaʻi
Origin: Introduced
Conservation status: Not yet assessed
Evidence date: 2026-10-06
Evidence limits: Current survival, abundance, flowering, fruiting, recruitment, spread and ecological effects on Kauaʻi are unconfirmed; historical planting does not establish naturalization.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Small flowers and fleshy bird-dispersed fruits provide the reproductive stages. Flowering, fruit set, seed viability and recruitment on Kauaʻi are unconfirmed.
Shelter: Not yet assessed
Growth form: Evergreen shrub or small tree

Threats and conservation

Monitoring: Not yet assessed
Data gaps: Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources

Process and seasonal context

Seasonal timing: Not yet assessed
Seasonal description: Indian sandalwood (Santalum album) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through historical forestry planting records. The reviewed records do not establish present survival. Kew currently accepts Santalum album L., native from Jawa to northern Australia; its distribution also includes the Philippines, while India is listed as introduced. Regional accounts describe dry deciduous forest, scrub and monsoon thicket. Roots form hemiparasitic attachments to neighboring plants. Historical government records document planting on Kauaʻi within the 1910–1960 forestry ledger period; species-specific years have not been extracted. The 2015 government management plan lists Indian sandalwood as Cultivated in its botanical appendix, without an exact taxon survey date. Corn’s 1977 vegetation account, quoted by that plan, describes planting soon after the reserve was established in 1944, without giving an exact species planting year. This evidence does not establish present survival or naturalization. Public occurrence is island-level only.

Sources and further reading

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