bio.wikisort.org - Plant

Santalum freycinetianum, the forest sandalwood,[2] Freycinet sandalwood, or ʻIliahi, is a species of flowering tree in the European mistletoe family, Santalaceae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Its binomial name commemorates Henri Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet, a 19th-century French explorer.[3] ʻIliahi inhabits dry, coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, and Molokaʻi at elevations of 250–950 m (820–3,120 ft). It grows in areas that receive 500–3,800 mm (20–150 in) of annual rainfall. Like other members of its genus, ʻiliahi is a root hemi-parasite, deriving some of its nutrients from the host plant; common hosts include koa (Acacia koa), koaiʻa (Acacia koaia), and ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa).[4]

Santalum freycinetianum
S. freycinetianum var. lanaiense
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Santalales
Family:	Santalaceae
Genus:	Santalum
Species:	S. freycinetianum
Binomial name
Santalum freycinetianum Gaudich.[1]
Varieties
S. f. var. freycinetianum S. f. var. lanaiense S. f. var. pyrularium

Varieties

• Santalum freycinetianum var. freycinetianum (Molokaʻi and Oʻahu)[5]
• Santalum freycinetianum var. lanaiense Rock – Lānaʻi Sandalwood (Lānaʻi and Maui)
• Santalum freycinetianum var. pyrularium (A.Gray) Stemmerm. – Kauaʻi Sandalwood (Kauaʻi)[3]

Uses

Non-medicinal

The ʻlaʻau ʻala (heartwood) of ʻiliahi contains valuable, aromatic essential oils. Native Hawaiians used the wood to make pola, the deck on a waʻa kaulua (double-hulled canoe). Powdered ʻlaʻau ʻala was used as a perfume and added to kapa cloth.[6] Between 1791–1840, trees were intensively harvested for export to China, where the hard, yellowish-brown wood was made into carved objects, chests, and incense. The ʻiliahi trade peaked from 1815 to 1826, and stopped when no large trees were left.[7]

Medicinal

Native Hawaiians combined leaves and bark of the ʻiliahi with naio (Myoporum sandwicense) ashes to treat kepia o ke poʻo (dandruff) and liha o ka lauoho (head lice). ʻIliahi shavings mixed with ʻawa (Piper methysticum), nioi (Eugenia reinwardtiana), ʻahakea (Bobea spp.), and kauila (Alphitonia ponderosa) was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.[7]

References

External links

• "Sandalwood trade". Hawaiʻi History Library. HawaiiHistory.org.
• Merlin, Mark D.; Lex A.J. Thomson; Craig R. Elevitch (April 2006). "Santalum ellipticum, S. freycinetianum, S. haleakalae, and S. paniculatum (Hawaiian sandalwood)" (PDF). The Traditional Tree Initiative. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• "ʻIliahi". Native Hawaiian Plants. Kapiʻolani Community College.

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