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sandalwood

I'm hoping someone on the list can save me from my own vanity:

I was teaching a class at a local Junior College this afternoon.  I was
talking about diversity of species, reaching out for new species, etc.  At
the end of class a lady came up to me and asked if I could find her a
source for a sandalwood tree.  I had a vague notion of what a sandalwood
tree was--something from SE Asia I thought.  Being vain I boasted that I'd
have no trouble tracking down a source for her within 48 hours.

Then came the hard part.

I found that there isn't *one* sandalwood tree but many.  I was heartened
to find out that the most common commercially raised sandalwoods(*Santalum
spicatum* and *Santalum album*) are native to "medium and low rainfall
areas of Western Australia".  The outskirts of Perth were even specified in
a publication called "Agriculture Western Australia".

I found a company that sells seed of S.spicatum, M.L.Farrar Seed Co. of
Bomaderry.

But I found no mention of anyone in the states selling any Santalum's,
including the six species native to Hawaii.

And, ominously, I also found:
        --someone mentioned it in an email seeking psychoactive plants from
Australia.  Anyone know about this?
        --Santalum's have been over-harvested and are under strict
protections in Australia.  I don't know that that would indicate any export
restrictions but who knows?
        --Florida lists a Santalum as an invasive species under state
quarantine.  This lady wants to plant hers in Arizona.  I wonder if Arizona
has similar restrictions.
        --The magazine above has a sentence that I've never heard before in
connection with a tree.  It says: "{Santalum} is a parasite and needs a
host plant to survive."  *Acacia acuminata* and *Acacia aneura* are
mentioned as hosts.  I don't understand.  Does this tree wrap itself around
an Acacia as it begins growth?  Apparently the parasite status only lasts
for the first year or two of the tree's life.  Can someone clue me in on
this one?

And, finally, has anyone any knowledge of a US firm selling any species of
sandalwood tree?

Jerry Heverly, Oakland, CA
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