# Dragon’s blood (Dracaena cinnabari)

**Sangue di drago**

**Known today as.** The red resin of *Dracaena cinnabari* of Socotra, which came in tears (drops), or of the rattan palm *Calamus draco* (formerly *Daemonorops draco*).

Kind: Resin & Wood

## What did Canale use it for?

In the oil for hexes (ch. 9).

## What does modern science say?

Astringent; a varnish colorant; still used in traditional medicine in many cultures.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **dracorhodin and dracorubin**: the red flavylium pigments of *Daemonorops* resin
- **taspine**: an alkaloid of *Croton lechleri* sap, the American dragon’s blood
- **proanthocyanidin oligomers (SP-303)**: in the croton sap

**Mechanism.** Two resins share the name: the East Indian rattan resin, an astringent pigment and varnish, and the Amazonian *Croton lechleri* latex, whose taspine speeds wound closure in animals and whose proanthocyanidin fraction blocks chloride secretion in the gut. The latter was approved by the FDA in 2012 as crofelemer (Mytesi) for diarrhoea in HIV patients, the first botanical drug from a rainforest sap.

**Dose.** The resins are safe; crofelemer is given at 125 mg twice daily.

**Standing.** Crofelemer is an FDA-approved prescription drug; the Asian resin is a dye and varnish.

## What lore surrounds it?

Grieve notes the uses of the resin “as a colouring matter for varnishes, tooth-pastes, tinctures, plasters, for dyeing horn to imitate tortoiseshell,” and that the dragon tree, Dracaena Draco, “shares with the baobab tree the distinction of being the oldest living representative of the vegetable kingdom, being much reverenced by the Guanches of the Canaries, who use its product for embalming in the fashion of the Egyptians.”

## What did the older authorities say?

**Pliny.** Repeats the fable that the red *cinnabaris* was the mingled blood of a dragon and an elephant slain in their combat.

## Sources

- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*, “Dragon’s Blood.” botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/dragon20.html
- Macarthur, R. D., et al. (2013). “Efficacy and safety of crofelemer for noninfectious diarrhea in HIV-seropositive individuals (ADVENT trial).” *HIV Clinical Trials* 14.
- Gupta, D., et al. (2008). “Dragon’s blood: botany, chemistry and therapeutic uses.” *Journal of Ethnopharmacology* 115.

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*Dragon’s blood.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/dragons-blood

Historical description, not medical advice.