Yasi, Fijian Sandalwood, Brown Sandalwood
Santalum yasi

Family: Santalaceae

What it is like

Santalum yasi is an evergreen Tree growing to 10 m (32ft) by 10 m (32ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 10

Where it is found

Open, dry forests and woodland communities. Usually found in secondary forest formations.

Pacific - Niue, Tonga and Fiji.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

Fiji; Niue; Tonga

How it is used

Food

Rating: 0

Medicine

Rating: 2

A decoction of sandalwood, combined with Homolanthus leaves, is taken to treat elephantiasis or lymphatic filariasis.

Other

Rating: 4

Agroforestry Uses: A pioneer species, spreading freely into grassland etc by means of bird-sown seeds. Other Uses: An essential oil is extracted from the heartwood. A high quality oil, it is used for cosmetics and perfumery, incense, and religious ceremonies. The heartwood is used as an incense. The grated wood is traditionally used to scent coconut oil. The heartwood is yellow and scented. The wood is fine-grained and durable. It has been used for making boxes, carvings and small fancy articles. The wood is rarely used as a timber because of its high value as a source of an essential oil.

Cosmetic: Used to improve the physical appearence of a person.

Essential: Essential oils that are used in perfumery, medicines, paint solvents, insect repellents etc.

Incense: Aromatic plants that can be burnt to impart a pleasant smell, repel insects and disinfect closed areas.

Pioneer: Plants, usually trees and shrubs, that can be used to reforest land.

Soap making: Plants used as an ingredient in making soaps. Does not include the essential oils, dyes and oils that are also used in making soap.

Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.

Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent

How it is grown

The plant grows naturally in warm to hot lowland areas in the tropics at elevations up to 600 metres, but usually below 300 metres. It prefers a mean annual temperature in the range 23 - 29°c. It is found in areas where the mean annual rainfall is in the range 1,250 - 1,750mm (though it can tolerate up to 2,500mm), and there is a distinct dry season of 3 - 5 months. Requires a position in full sun or bright shade. Requires a light to medium, well-drained soil. Prefers a well-drained humus-rich soil. Tolerates poor, shallow soils. It grows more quickly in fertile soils but is then more at risk of being shaded out by taller, faster-growing trees. Prefers a circumneutral soil with a pH of pH 6.1 - 7.4, but can tolerate 4 - 7.4. The plant has a capacity for invasiveness in disturbed places, but this is rarely considered a problem. A semi-parasitic plant, obtaining some of its nutriment from the roots of other plants. The plant has green leaves containing chlorophyll, and is thus able to photosynthesize - it relies on host plants only for water and soil nutrients, not for sugars, which it can produce itself . In a natural situation, the plant seems to rely on nitrogen-fixing trees such as Acacia and Casuarina, though it is known to parasitize many other legumes, shrubs, herbs and grasses. It normally has more than one host at a time. Acacia spirorbis makes a good long-term host plant under both natural conditions and in plantations. For ultramafic soils, other good nitrogen-fixing host species are Casuarina collina and Gymnostoma deplancheana. A fairly slow-growing plant, increasing in height by about 50 - 70cm per year. Under good conditions, plants begin fruiting from an early age, typically about 3 - 4 years, but heavy fruiting may take 7 - 10 years. The species can produce substantial quantities of its valuable heartwood on a rotation of about 25 - 40 years. Plants generally respond well to coppicing. Plants are capable of producing root suckers - following harvesting, clumps of suckers may regenerate in a circular pattern several meters away from the original stump. Because sandalwood is hemiparasitic and requires one or more host plants, intercropping is not only possible, but necessary. Spacing: 6-8 ft. (1.8-2.4 m) 8-10 ft. (2.4-3 m) 10-12 ft. (3-3.6 m).

Propagating it: Seed - germinates best when scarified. It is best sown fresh when the viability is high, with 80 - 90% of the seed germinating after 1 - 4 months. Sow the seed in a covered nursery seedbed - it germinates best at a temperature of 28 - 31°c. Pot up the young seedlings into individual containers as soon as they are large enough to handle, preferably before the seed coat falls from the germinating shoot. Acacia species, Calliandra calothyrsus, and Casuarina spp. May be used as hosts for the young plants in pots, but Calliandra needs frequent cutting back to prevent it from overtopping the sandalwood. Plant out into permanent positions when 20 - 25cm tall, approx 5 - 6 months after germination.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 9-12

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

This name is unresolved.