The History, Present Distribution, and Abundance of Sandalwood on Oahu, Hawaiian Islands: . Hawaiian Plant Studies 14

TODAY IT IS a common belief of the residents of the Hawaiian Islands that the sandalwood tree was exterminated during the sandalwood trade in the early part of the . nineteenth century and that it is now extinct on the islands. To correct this impression, the following notes are presented.. There is a popular as well as a scientific interest in the sandalwood tree or iliahi of the Hawaiians, the fragrant wood of which was the first important article of commerce exported from the Hawaiian Islands. For centuries the sandalwood, with its pleasantly fragrant dried heartwood, was much sought for. In the Orient, particularly in China, Burma, and India, the wood was used for the making of idols and sacred utensils for shrines, choice boxes and carvings, fuel for funeral pyres, and joss sticks to be burnt in temples. The distilled oil was used in numerous medicines, perfumes, and cosmetics, and as a body rub. The thick oil pressed from the seed was used as illuminating oil. Though long believed to be native to India, the "white sandalwood," Santalum