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'Iliahi (Hawaiian sandalwood)
(Santalum paniculatum)
This is a common endemic native tree. Though it was decimated during
the early 19th century sandalwood trade with China, it is not endangered or rare in the Kona district. Valued by the Hawaiians for its beauty and fragrance it was used as a craft wood for pillows and containers
and as an additive to Kapa (native Hawaiian cloth) for its scent. As recently
as the 1980’s there was large scale harvesting of ancient sandalwood groves in the Hokukano area of the Big Island. That was a very bad thing! My limited
and physically arduous methods for gathering this wood are an example of my trying to use a sustainable harvesting technique
for a geographically limited but not particularly rare wood resource.
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