Indian sandalwood

Fragrant sandalwood drew Chinese and Portuguese merchants to Timor long before colonisation.

Indian sandalwood is a small evergreen tree growing 10–15 m tall and a hemiparasite – its roots attach to the roots of other plants, drawing water and minerals from them. It has small, opposite leaves and tiny reddish flowers. Its value lies above all in the heartwood of older trees, rich in an aromatic oil that keeps its scent for decades. It is used to make incense, perfume and carvings and in religious rituals throughout Asia.

Significance in the country

For centuries Timor was one of the world’s most important sources of sandalwood – it was what drew the Portuguese here, whose first capital on the island was the settlement of Lifau on the coast of present-day Oecusse. Plundering exploitation made the tree rare, and today programmes are under way to restore it.

Where it grows

In scattered, thinned-out stands in the dry forests and scrub of the west of the country – in Oecusse, Bobonaro and Cova-Lima, as well as Ainaro, Manufahi and Ermera; new plantings are being made in many municipalities.

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