The title must have surely intrigued you.. The image above is of a young Chandan .. Yes Sandalwood.. This species grows quite commonly on the hills of Pune and even in the city. Here are its flowers which are little smaller than a grain of Arhar Dal..
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| Flowers |
Chandan belongs to the Santalaceae family. Its botanical name is Santalum album. Another amazing fact about this tree is that it begins its life as a root parasite. The young seedling draws nourishment from specific host plants (for example Lantana, Morinda pubescens, Neem) but the hosts are not damaged.
Thereafter it grows independently.
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| Evergreen tree with opposite leaves |
The tree has huge medicinal value. Its wood is yellowish, soft and used to carve decorative items.
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| Fruit |
Chandan is famous for its fragrance but surprisingly, these flowers are not fragrant. Nor the leaves or bark at the age these images have been taken. The tree develops its fragrant oils only when it is about 25 years old.
Have you seen the Chandan tree or its beautiful delicate flowers?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see amazing trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
Have a wonderful healthy happy and prosperous 2020 everyone!!
Thanks for sharing this beautiful and informative post, Archana! I was so glad to see your pics because I'd never seen one like that before! I'd love to grow a Chandan tree at my home someday. Think it should be fine for Bangalore weather, no?
Here's my post from the week. Would be lovely if you stop by and share your thoughts.
Happy weekend, Archana.
It takes 25 years to become what I've known as sandalwood. Yet it has a life of it's own independent of my experience. These facts prove that there's always something new and interesting to learn.
Happy to share @Esha! Yes, I think it should grow easily in Bangalore.. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Thank you so much @JoAnna!
Amazing life history. No, I’ve never seen one, not even when I have visited Florida.
I am so glad you shared such an informative post. I have never seen a Chandan tree. So I loved to see flowers and the fruits. Also, you busted the myth but I thought atleast there would be some smell in the flower or leaf. But 25 years is a good wait.
Bangalore's Lal Bagh has sandal wood trees and I have read in news papers about how the trees are chopped and stolen.
This was such a great post, Archana. Thank you! See you on the 23rd!
@Alana Happy to share a new species with you!! 🙂
@Parul Happy to participate and thanks for stopping by 🙂
Karnataka is famous for sandalwood but I've not come across this tree. I believe its a protected species here in order to prevent its smuggling which was rampant earlier.
Loved the pics and the info Archana. I remeber reading about this in my Botany classes, more than a couple of decades ago 🙂
Thank you so much Priya 🙂