| | CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification and information retrieval |
Nomenclature. Family: FABACEAE-FABOIDEAE. Synonym(s): Lingoum santalinum. Further trade and local names: Kaliaturholz, rotes Sandelholz (D); red sandalwood, India sandalwood, saunderswood (GB); sandal rouge (FR); sándalo rojo (ES);sandalo rosso (IT); chandaman, panaka (IN). Code according to DIN EN 13556: none.
CITES(EU) status of protection. Listed in Annex II(B).
Similar timbers. Other species of the genus Pterocarpus; Dalbergia louvelii, D. maritima .
Geographic distribution. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. The species is endemic to the Eastern Ghats mountain range of South India.
Growth rings, colour, grain, etc. Growth ring boundaries indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown, red, black (dark orange to reddish brown, darkening to nearly black under exposure). Sapwood distinct from heartwood colour. Wood heavy and hard (0.77–0.85 g/cm3). Interlocked grain present.
Hardwood vs softwood. Vessels (pores) present (= hardwood).
Vessels (pores). Wood diffuse-porous. Vessels (pores) in multiples; commonly in short (2–3 vessels) radial rows. Vessels large ((75-)180–260(-310)); very few to few ((2-)4–7(-9)). The pores of presently traded wood (young stems) are considerably smaller (70–105–145 µm) and more numerous. Tyloses absent. Other deposits in heartwood vessels (pores) present.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma present; banded, or not banded. Parenchyma bands not (only) marginal; narrow; but much wider than rays. Other macroscopically visible types of axial parenchyma: aliform winged, confluent.
Rays. Rays narrow; of uniform size. Large rays commonly less than 1 mm high.
Storied structure. Storied structure present. Tiers regular (horizontal or slightly inclined); 4–6 per axial millimetre.
Physical and chemical tests. Heartwood not fluorescent. Water extract fluorescent (pale green); colour shade of water extract colourless to brown. Ethanol extract fluorescent (orange pink in different intensity); colour shade of ethanol extract colourless to brown, or red. Froth test positive. Splinter burns to partial ash, or to charcoal (abhängig von der Herkunft des Musters depending on the origin of the specimen); colour of ash white to grey.
Additional information. • Transverse section + wood surface. Transverse section ca. 10x. Tangential surface, natural size. • Comparison Pterocarpus santalinus vs P. macrocarpus. Pterocarpus santalinus (Red sanders). Pterocarpus macrocarpus (Amboina). The timbers of the two Pterocarpus species cannot be safely distinguished macroscopically. Observable differences (structure, color, weight) are of a quantitative nature and not very helpful diagnostic tools. • Comparison Pterocarpus santalinus vs P. soyauxii. Pterocarpus santalinus (Red sanders). Pterocarpus soyauxii (African Padouk). The wood of Pterocarpus soyauxii is lighter in weight (around 0.75 g/cm³) compared to that of P. santalinus (around 1.00 g/cm³); its structure is rather coarse and its heartwood color features a violet hue.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., Gembruch, K., and Koch, G. 2014 onwards. CITESwoodID: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, and Spanish. Version: 4th April 2023. www.delta-intkey.com’.
