Statue of Unity – Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat Rain Forest Ektanagar

Pterocarpus santalinus

Syn. Lingoum santalinum

IUCN Red List Endangered (EN)

Local name

  • Red Sandalwood (English)
  • Rakatchandan (Hindi)

CITES status: Appendix II

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous
Family: Fabaceae
11m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Pterocarpus santalinus bark

Bark

Bark is blackish-brown, deeply cut into rectangular plates, yielding a deep red latex when cut; heartwood extremely hard, dark purple.

Pterocarpus santalinus leaves

Leaves

Leaves are usually imparipinnate, 10–18 cm long; leaflets 3, rarely 4–5, 3.8–7.6 cm long, broadly ovate or round, leathery, tip blunt, slightly notched, undersurface pale and clothed with fine grey hairs.

Pterocarpus santalinus flower

Flower

Flowers are yellow, borne a few together in simple or sparingly branched racemes; flower-stalks about 5 mm long; sepal-cup 5–6 mm long, teeth minute, triangular.

Pterocarpus santalinus fruit / seeds

Fruit / Seeds

Pods are obliquely round, 3.8–5 cm in diameter, including the wing, base narrowed into a short, concavely curved stipe about 8 mm long, woolly.

Pterocarpus santalinus

Did you know?

The heartwood is naturally deep crimson-red, one of the most valuable timbers in the world.

Distribution

World map showing distribution

Southern Eastern Ghats (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu)