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Santalum lanceolatum
Also called Northern Sandalwood, Plumbush, Wild Plum
Ankwerley (Santalum lanceolatum) is a small Australian sandalwood tree from arid and semi-arid inland areas, growing 1 to 7 m tall. It is a semi-parasitic plant that needs host roots nearby to thrive.
Santalum lanceolatum is an Australian tree of the family Santalaceae. It is commonly known as desert quandong, northern sandalwood, sandalwood, or true sandalwood and in some areas as burdardu. The mature height of this plant is variable, from 1 to 7 m. The flowers are green, white, and cream, appearing between January and October. The species has a distribution throughout central Australia, becoming scattered or unusual in more southern regions.
The native range of the plant extends from north-western Victoria, northwards through New South Wales to North Queensland, westwards across The Northern Territory and into north-western Western Australia. It is a plant primarily of arid and semiarid inland areas, although its distribution reaches the coast in both Central Queensland and the Kimberley. The tree is becoming increasingly rare across much of its desert range due to destructive browsing by feral camels.
The plant is used by the people of the northwest for medicinal purposes, and is placed within the 'Burndad song cycle' of those countries. In the Marra language, it is called dumbuyumbu. This name also occurs in neighbouring languages such as Alawa and is used in Roper River Kriol.
Sweet Quandong · Sandalwood · Australian sandalwood · Sandalwood
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Santalum lanceolatum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
