Dragon's blood is a bright red

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

which is obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera: ''

Calamus Calamus may refer to: Botany and zoology * ''Calamus'' (fish), a genus of fish in the family Sparidae * ''Calamus'' (palm), a genus of rattan palms * Calamus, the hollow shaft of a feather, also known as the quill * '' Acorus calamus'', the swe ...

'' spp. (previously ''Daemonorops'') also including ''

Calamus rotang ''Calamus rotang'', also known as common rattan, is a plant species native to India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma). It is one of the scandent (climbing) rattan palms used to make Malacca cane furniture, baskets, walking-sticks, umbrellas, table ...

'', '' Croton'', '' Dracaena'' and ''

Pterocarpus ''Pterocarpus'' is a pantropical genus of trees in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade within the Dalbergieae. Most species of ''Pterocarp ...

''. The red resin has been in continuous use since ancient times as varnish,

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

, pigment, and dye.

Name and source

A great degree of confusion existed for the ancients in regard to the source and identity of dragon's blood. Some medieval encyclopedias claimed its source as the literal blood of elephants and dragons who had perished in mortal combat. The resin of '' Dracaena'' species, "true" dragon's blood, and the very poisonous mineral

cinnabar Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the bri ...

(mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of dragon's blood from the different species. Both ''Dracaena'' and ''

'' resins are still often marketed today as dragon's blood, with little or no distinction being made between the plant sources; however, the resin obtained from ''Calamus'' has become the most commonly sold type in modern times, often in the form of large balls of resin. Resins that come from different species and different continents have been given the name “dragon's blood,” but their purity, appearance, and chemical properties are highly varied. Voyagers to the Canary Islands in the 15th century obtained dragon's blood as dried garnet-red drops from ''

Dracaena draco ''Dracaena draco'', the Canary Islands dragon tree or drago, is a subtropical tree in the genus '' Dracaena'', native to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, western Morocco, and is thought to be introduced in the Azores. Its closest living ...

'', a tree native to the Canary Islands and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. The resin is exuded from its wounded trunk or branches. Dragon's blood is also obtained by the same method from the closely related ''

Dracaena cinnabari ''Dracaena cinnabari'', the Socotra dragon tree or dragon blood tree, is a dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago, part of Yemen, located in the Arabian Sea. It is named after the blood-like color of the red sap that the trees produce. ...

'', which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the island of

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’ ...

. This resin was traded to ancient Europe via the Incense Road. Dragon's blood resin is also produced from the

rattan palm Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

s of the genus ''Calamus'' of the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n islands and known there as ''jernang'' or ''djernang''. It is gathered by breaking off the layer of red resin encasing the unripe fruit of the rattan. The collected resin is then rolled into solid balls before being sold. The red latex of the Sangre de Drago (called Sangre de Grado in Peru), from any of seven species of ''Croton'' native to Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil, has purported wound-healing and antioxidant properties, and has been used for centuries by native people. The species are: * '' Croton draconoides'' , (

wikispecies Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive open content catalogue of all species; the project is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public. Jimmy Wa ...

) * '' Croton palanostigma'' , (

) * '' Croton perpecosus'' , (

) * '' Croton rimbachii'' , (

) * '' Croton sampatik'' , (

) * '' Croton erythrochilus'' , (

) * ''

Croton lechleri ''Croton lechleri'' is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is native to northwestern South America. It is commonly known as ''sangre de grado'' (Peruvian Spanish), ''sangre de drago'' (Ecuadorian Spanish) or '' ...

'' , (

)

Visual characteristics

In his study of artists' pigments, the chemist George Field described dragon's blood as “a warm semi-transparent, rather dull, red colour, which is deepened by impure air, and darkened by light.”

History and uses

The dragon's blood known to the ancient Romans was mostly collected from ''D. cinnabari'', and is mentioned in the 1st century '' Periplus Maris Erythraei'' (xxx.10.17) as one of the products of

. Socotra had been an important trading centre since at least the time of the Ptolemies. Dragon's blood was used as a dye, painting pigment, and medicine (respiratory and gastrointestinal problems) in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

basin, and was held by early

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

to have medicinal properties.

Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

and other early Greek writers described its medicinal uses. Giotto di Bondone 088

A notable occurrence of dragon's blood red in art is in

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

's ''Pentecost''. In this painting, it is believed that the pigment used in the orange-red flames over the Apostles' heads is dragon's blood. Locals on

island use the ''Dracaena'' resin as a sort of

cure-all A panacea , named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy Panacea, is any supposed remedy that is claimed (for example) to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. It was in the past sought by alchemists in connection with the elixir ...

, using it for such things as general wound healing, a coagulant (though this is ill-advised with commercial products, as the ''Calamus'' species acts as an anti-coagulant and it is usually unknown what species the dragon's blood came from), curing diarrhea, lowering fevers, dysentery diseases, taken internally for ulcers in the mouth, throat, intestines and stomach, as well as an antiviral for respiratory viruses, stomach viruses and for skin disorders such as eczema. It was also used in medieval

ritual magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an e ...

and

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

. Dragon's blood of both ''Dracaena draco'' (commonly referred to as the Draconis Palm) and ''Dracaena cinnabari'' were used as a source of varnish for 18th century

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

violinmakers. There was also an 18th-century recipe for

toothpaste Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from the teeth, ...

that contained dragon's blood. Dragon's blood from both ''Calamus'' were used for ceremonies in India. Sometimes ''Dracaena'' resin, but more often ''Calamus'' resin, was used in China as red varnish for wooden furniture. It was also used to colour the surface of writing paper for banners and posters, used especially for weddings and for Chinese New Year. In American Hoodoo, African-American folk magic, and New Orleans voodoo, it is used in mojo hands for money-drawing or love-drawing, and is used as incense to cleanse a space of negative entities or influences. It is also added to red ink to make "Dragon's Blood Ink", which is used to inscribe magical seals and talismans. In

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

, dragon's blood is used externally as a wash to promote healing of wounds and to stop bleeding. It is used internally for chest pains, post-partum bleeding, internal traumas and menstrual irregularities. Dragon's blood incense is also occasionally sold as "red rock opium" to unsuspecting would-be drug buyers. It actually contains no opiates, and has only slight psychoactive effects, if any at all. Thaspine from the Dragon's Blood of the species ''

'' has possible use as a cancer drug. Today, dragon's blood from a South American plant can be bought in health food stores. According to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, dragon's blood was used by artists in antiquity. Painters continued to use it in the creation of flesh tones during the 17th century. By the 19th century, publications on artists' materials indicate that it was most useful as a varnish, not as pigment for painting. In 1835, George Field stated that dragon's blood is “unsatisfactory for painting.” However, the pigment was used to prepare the color known as "Chinese orange." Today, dragon's blood has a variety of uses. Outside of it being a pigment in paintings and colors, it is still used as a varnish for violins, in photoengraving, as a medicine, as an incense resin, and as a body oil.

Safety

A study on oral toxicity of the DC resin methanol extract taken from the perennial tree ''Dracaena cinnabari'' was performed on female Sprague Dawley rats in February 2018. Acute and sub-acute oral toxicity tests found that the extract could be tolerated up to 2,000 mg/kg body weight.,

List of botanical sources

* ''

'' L. * ''

Calamus draco ''Calamus draco'' is an Asian species of rattan plant in the family Arecaceae; its native range is from peninsular Thailand to western Malesia.Willdenow CL (1799) ''Species Plantarum. Editio Quarta. Berolini'' erlin ed. 4 2(1): 203. It is a s ...

'' Willd. (synonyms include ''

Daemonorops ''Daemonorops'' was a genus of rattan palms in the family Arecaceae. Its species are now included within the genus ''Calamus''. Species found primarily in the tropics and subtropics of southeastern Asia with a few species extending into souther ...

draco, D. rubra'') * '' Calamus didymophyllus'' Becc. Ridl. (synonyms include ''Daemonorops motleyi, D. didymophylla'') * '' Croton draconoides'' Müll. Arg. * '' Croton draco'' Schltdl. & Cham. * ''

'' Müll. Arg. * '' Croton erythrochilus'' Müll. Arg. * '' Croton palanostigma'' Klotzsch * '' Croton perspeciosus'' Croizat * '' Croton rimbachii'' Croizat * '' Croton sampatik'' Müll. Arg. * '' Croton urucurana'' Baill. * '' Croton xalapensis''

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continents, ...

* ''

'' Balf.f. * '' Dracaena cochinchinensis'' hort. ex Baker * ''

'' (L.) L. * '' Pterocarpus officinalis'' Jacq.

Footnotes

References

* Casson, L. 1989. ''The Periplus Maris Erythraei''. Princeton University Press. Especially, pp. 69, 168-170. . * Hill, John E. 2004
''The Peoples of the West''
A draft annotated translation from the 3rd century ''

Weilüe The ''Weilüe'' () was a Chinese historical text written by Yu Huan between 239 and 265. Yu Huan was an official in the state of Cao Wei (220–265) during the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). Although not a formal historian, Yu Huan has been h ...

''. Note 12.12 (13). * * Meza, E. N. (Editor). 1999. ''Desarrollando nuestra diversidad biocultural: Sangre de Grado y el reto de su producción sustentable en el Perú''. Lima: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Fondo Editorial
Google Book
* Schafer, E. H. 1963. ''The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T'ang Exotics''. University of California Press. First paperback edition, 1985., p. 211. ISBN * Schoff, Wilfred H. 1912. ''The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. Longmans, Green, and Co., New York, Second Edition. Reprint: New Delhi, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1974. (A new hardback edition is available from Coronet Books Inc. Also reprinted by South Asia Books, 1995, {{ISBN, 81-215-0699-9 ) Incense material Biological pigments Organic pigments Resins Magic substances Traditional medicine