Santalum is a genus of woody flowering plants, the best known and commercially valuable of which is the Indian sandalwood tree, S. album. Members of the genus are trees or shrubs. Most are root parasites which photosynthesize their own food, but tap the roots of other species for water and inorganic nutrients. Several species, most notably S. album, produce highly aromatic wood, used for scents and perfumes and for herbal medicine. About 25 known species range across the Indomalaya, Australasia, and Oceania ecozones, from India through Malesia to the Pacific Islands, as far as Hawaii and the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of South America.