Santalales in Human Affairs and Conservation

Abstract

Human Affairs. The economic issues involving Santalales are relatively modest except for the two or three ones mentioned below. Many of the trees in the order are locally prized for their superior wood qualities. This is true for Acanthosyris, Coula, Heisteria, Minquartia, Scorodocarpus, Strombosia, and Strombosiopsis. The relevant sources of information, however, are dated, and the increasing disappearance of tropical forests may have rendered some of them no more than a historical fact. In a few cases, fruits are edible (Coula, Ximenia, and even the fruits of Lysiana casuarinae in Australia are consumed by the Nyoongar people according to Watson 2011). Young shoots of both Champereia and Melientha are used as a vegetable in Thailand (Kubat 1987), even though there may be toxic issues. The curious, small tubers of Arjona have also been used as a minor food source in southern South America (Fig. 4).