The wood of Pterocarpus santalinus Linne filius (nat. ord. Leguminosae).

Habitat

Madras; cultivated.

Characters

A hard, heavy, dark reddish-brown, coarsely splintery wood, deprived of the light-colored sap-wood; usually met with in chips, or as a coarse, irregular, brownish-red powder, nearly inodorous and nearly tasteless. Resembling Red Saunders. - Logwood, which is less dense.

Composition

The chief constituents are - (1) Santa/in, C15H14O5, in red needles. (2) Santa/, C8H6O3, in colorless scales. (3) Pterocarpin, C20H16O6. (4) Homopterocarpin, C24H24O6, in colorless crystals.

Red Saunders is contained in Tinctura Lavandulae Composita.

Uses of Red Saunders. Red Saunders is used to color preparations, but is of no value medicinally.