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 Croton rimbachii Croizat, ( wikispecies).Croton perpecosus Croiza, ( wikispecies).Croton palanostigma Klotzsch, ( wikispecies).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 collected resin is then rolled into solid balls before being sold. It is gathered by breaking off the layer of red resin encasing the unripe fruit of the rattan. This resin was traded to ancient Europe via the Incense Road.ĭragon's blood resin is also produced from the rattan palms of the genus Calamus of the Indonesian islands and known there as jernang or djernang. Dragon's blood is also obtained by the same method from the closely related Dracaena cinnabari, which is endemic to the island of Socotra. The resin is exuded from its wounded trunk or branches. Voyagers to the Canary Islands in the 15th century obtained dragon's blood as dried garnet-red drops from Dracaena draco, a tree native to the Canary Islands and Morocco. 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. Both Dracaena and Calamus 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. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of dragon's blood from the different species. The resin of Dracaena species, "true" dragon's blood, and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. Some medieval encyclopedias claimed its source as the literal blood of elephants and dragons who had perished in mortal combat. Dracaena draco leaves showing dragon's blood pigment at the baseĪ great degree of confusion existed for the ancients in regard to the source and identity of dragon's blood.
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