Santalum album, Linn.
Family : Santalaceae
Common Name : Sandalwood
Telugu Name : Srigandham, Chandanam

General :

It is commonly found in wild in Chittoor and Cuddapah districts and sporadically in other places. It is capable of growing in different kinds of soils, even in shallow rocky soils, but cannot stand waterlogging. It can tolerate very high temperatures. The plant is highly succeptible to browsing and fire.

Flowering :

May to June.

Fruiting :
October to December.
Morphology of the Fruit / Seed :
Fruit a nut or drupe, black when ripe, seed globose or ovoid.
Seed Collection and Storage :
Sandal fruits are collected fresh from the trees in December and are soaked in water and rubbed to remove the soft pulp. Then they are dried. The seeds do not store well.
Seed Biology :
No. of seeds per Kg.
Purity percent
Moisture percentage
Germination percentage
Plant percent
No. of seedlings per Kg. of seed
6,000
78
7.6
30
15
900
Pretreatment :
Acid scarification with concentrated H2SO4 for 30 minutes with strring and washing in running water, or soak the seeds in 0.05% gibberellic acid overnight.
Nursery Technique :

The seed beds are either sunken or raised and covered with straw which is removed when the seedlings emerge. When seedlings attain 4 to 6 leaf stage, they are transplanted into polythene bags, along with seeds of a primary host tree Cajanus cajan. Seeds sown in December can give 30 cms tall seedings in 4 months.