DRAGONS BLOOD Oil | Dracaena draco

For wound healing, apply a thin layer of Dragons Blood Oil to the affected area once or twice a day.

A great degree of confusion existed for the ancients in regard to the source and identity of Dragons 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" Dragons Blood, and the very poisonous mineral cinnabar (mercury sulfide) were often confused by the ancient Romans. In ancient China, little or no distinction was made among the types of Dragons Blood from the different species. Both Dracaena and Calamus resins are still often marketed today as Dragons 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 “Dragons Blood,” but their purity, appearance, and chemical properties are highly varied.

Voyagers to the Canary Islands in the 15th century obtained Dragons Blood as dried garnet-red drops from Dracaena draco, a tree native to the Canary Islands and Morocco. The resin is exuded from its wounded trunk or branches. Dragons Blood is also obtained by the same method from the closely related Dracaena cinnabari, which is endemic to the island of Socotra. This resin was traded to ancient Europe via the Incense Road.

Dragons Blood resin is also produced from the rattan palms of the genus Calamus of the Indonesian islands. 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 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.

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

The Dragons Blood known to the ancient Romans was mostly collected from D. cinnabari, and is mentioned in the 1st century Periplus Maris Erythraei as one of the products of Socotra. Socotra had been an important trading centre since at least the time of the Ptolemies. Dragons Blood was used as a dye, painting pigment, and medicine for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems in the Mediterranean basin, and was held by early Greeks, Romans, and Arabs to have medicinal properties. Dioscorides and other early Greek writers described its medicinal uses.

Locals on Socotra island use the Dracaena resin as a sort of cure-all, using it for such things as general wound healing, a coagulant, 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 and alchemy.

Dragons Blood of both Dracaena draco and Dracaena cinnabari were used as a source of varnish for 18th century Italian violinmakers. There was also an 18th-century recipe for toothpaste that contained Dragons Blood.

Dragons 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.

Thaspine from the Dragons Blood of the species Croton lechleri has possible use as a cancer drug.

According to Pliny the Elder, Dragons 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 Dragons Blood is “unsatisfactory for painting.” However, the pigment was used to prepare the color known as "Chinese orange.”

Today, Dragons 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.

Dragons Blood Oil is used as a traditional medicine for wound healing and as a fumigating agent when burnt as a resin.