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dracaena cinnabari medicinal uses

dracaena cinnabari medicinal uses Dragon's Blood Tree (Canary Islands) – Experimental Farm Network Seed Store

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Description

dracaena cinnabari medicinal uses Dragon's Blood Tree (Canary Islands) – Experimental Farm Network Seed StoreDracaena draco Origin: Canary Islands via California Improvement status: Unknown Seeds per packet: 10 BOTANICAL SAMPLE NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial Along with its cousin, the Socotra Dragon's Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari), from an island on the other side of Africa, the Canary Islands Dragon's Blood Tree is one of the major sources of the historically important red colored resin known as "dragon's blood." Long used as a dye, painting

Dracaena draco

Origin: Canary Islands via California

Improvement status: Unknown

Seeds per packet: 10

BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED

Life cycle: Perennial

Along with its cousin, the Socotra Dragon's Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari), from an island on the other side of Africa, the Canary Islands Dragon's Blood Tree is one of the major sources of the historically important red-colored resin known as "dragon's blood." Long used as a dye, painting pigment, varnish, incense, toothpaste, and ingredient in compounds both medicinal and magical, the garnet-red sap — which drips like slow-moving blood from any wounds to the plant's bark — has captured imaginations for thousands of years. Since the major sources of the resin were largely found on isolated islands, it was apparently easy for its marketers to pass it off as genuine dragon's blood — for few had firsthand evidence to dispute such tales. It is first mentioned (with the now-anonymous author acknowledging it comes from a plant) as a product of Socotra in a 1st century Greco-Roman periplus, a sort of first-hand travel and trading guidebook, called Periplus Maris Erythraeixi, which detailed economic opportunities for travelers and traders from the Red Sea across the Arabian Sea to modern-day India, almost all the way to Bangladesh (and including an overland route to China as well).

This species, Dracaena draco,  which not only is native to the Canary Islands, but also Cape Verde (Cabo Verde), Madeira, and a few places in western Morocco, is usually called the Canary Islands dragon tree or dragon's blood tree, or just drago. Early Portuguese introductions from Cabo Verde are believed to have given rise to the small population that still exists in the Azores as well. When the Swedish father of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, described the tree in 1762, he called it Asparagus draco — and indeed it is still placed in the Asparagaceae family. But this tree is no simple asparagus. It has a very distinctive growth form: young trees grow upward as a single stem topped by a dense crown of long, yucca-like leaves; then after ten years or so, the first pretty white flowers form (looking somewhat like lilies), followed by orange-red fruits; then a crown of buds forms and the plant begins to branch; each branch grows for another decade or so, then also flowers and branches again, in a process repeated over hundreds or thousands of years until the tree has a large, strong, woody trunk, topped with a maze-like crown of interlocking branches topped with a hemispherical crown of green leaves, flowers, and fruit. The oldest, largest individuals are stunning to see.

When the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt visited the Canary Islands in 1799 he was shown a massive drago specimen in Tenerife that had been hollowed out by the indigenous Guanche people and used as a sanctuary long before the arrival of Spanish imperialist colonizers. The tree was 70 feet tall (21 meters) and 45 feet in circumference (14 meters) — and estimated to be 6,000 years old. Sadly, it was felled in a storm in 1868.

The resin from this species differs slightly from the resin of the Socotra dragon tree (which was known to Europeans for a millenium and a half longer), but upon its "discovery" in the 1400s, it began being used as a slightly more accessible substitute. It became particularly important as a varnish for the beautiful violins produced in Italy during the time of Stradivarius and his successors. There is little record of how the indigenous Guanche people (related to mainland Northern African Berber peoples), who arrived in the islands by the 6th century BCE, utilized the plant — because most of them were killed or died of exposure to novel diseases in the decades after Spanish conquest began (the language went extinct sometime in the 1600s) — but its likely they found many uses for it as well, as the local inhabitants of Socotra use theirs.

Today, dragon's blood is still used medicinally — primarily for wound healing, digestive issues, and pain relief — with scientists continually probing it for more uses. Modern research has found potent antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties, validating its traditional uses, and studies note few negative side effects. Bioactive compounds in the plant show promise in the treatment of diabetic wounds, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer.

In most of the US, the tree can only be grown as a houseplant (and many people have very long-lived dragon's blood trees growing in pots, rarely growing taller than 4 or 5 feet over 50 years), but it can tolerate life outdoors in much of USDA Zones 9 to 12. It can tolerate brief dips below freezing, but prefers temperatures to stay above 50°F.

This California-grown seed comes to us from the good folks at Sheffield's Seed in Locke, New York.

GROWING TIPS: To germinate, soak seeds in hot tap water and let sit for 24-48 hours. Sow 1/4 inch deep, keeping soil warm (above 75°F) and moist, but not over-saturated. Seeds should sprout within 4-6 weeks. For potted plants, use regular potting soil in inividual pots. Put them in bright, indirect light. Do not leave roots wet. Trees grow in places that often see very little rain, so using a humidifier to keep your air more humid is sometimes best. You could also use the ice-cube method, placing a few ice cubes on top of the soil (away from the base of the plant) every week or two, to make sure you don't over-water them.

NOTE: The image of the old tree with the door in its trunk, comes from the Wellcome Collection, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom. It is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The image of dragon's blood resin may or may not come from this species, but all of the resins look similar (it may be Dracaena cinnabari, as the author believed, or Calamus draco, an unrelated species which produces a similar-looking resin, or Dracaena draco). It is from author Maša Sinreih in Valentina Vivod and is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. All others are public domain images of Dracaena draco.

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Vanessa
Birmingham, US
★★★★★ 1
OMG - DO NOT BUY - it smells like noxious poison.
Color: Purple, Size: Medium (Pack of 1), Color: Purple, Size: Medium (Pack of 1)
OMG DO NOT BUY!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t think the reviews stating the noxious smell could be accurate - OMG OUR WHOLE HOUSE REEKS OF POISON. I LITERALLY FEEL LIKE I MAY BE SICK. OMG OMG OMG.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2026
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KM
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
Great toy for dispensing dinner!
Color: Purple, Size: Large (Pack of 1)
This is one of my puppy's favorite toys! We always try to use toys to dispense his meals, but many of them become too easy for him. Kongs take no time at all to empty. This one seems to provide much more of a challenge, mostly due to the three different sizes of compartments and openings. He'll empty the largest compartment fairly quickly, but the small one almost always has a piece or two of kibble that he just can't get out. This helps to keep him interested in the toy throughout the day. We use a large breed dog food with larger sized kibble which helps to add to the challenge. The fact that this bounces erratically and doesn't roll smoothly makes it difficult for my dog to develop a method for emptying it quickly. With some other toys, like the Kong Wobbler, he quickly learns to just push it around with his nose. This toy makes him work much harder! The construction of this toy is very sturdy. We usually feed one meal a day in this, and it's held up well to heavy chewing. I (and my roommates) appreciate that it's made of softer plastic which doesn't make as much noise on the hardwood floors as some of his other toys. The prongs on the openings can be cut to adjust the difficulty, which is nice if you're using different sized kibble or treats. It is a little harder to fill than other toys, but still not terribly difficult. Overall I've had a great experience with all the PetSafe toys I've tried, and this one is one of the very best!
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Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2015
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DEVIN
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
Great chew toys!
Color: Purple, Size: Medium (Pack of 1), Color: Purple, Size: Medium (Pack of 1)
Keenan LOVES this toy! He will play with it all day. Running around the house, chasing as it bounces in different directions. And he'll be so content chewing on it for long periods of time. It makes an annoying sound when he chews, but I can live with it if it's keeping him entertained. This is the second purple rubber toy from this brand that I've purchased, the other being the squirrel one, which was his favorite until I purchased this for Christmas. They are super durable, his squirrel is still going strong. Even without putting food/treats inside, these are great toys for dogs that enjoy the softer rubber type chew toys. My only con is that it's a little big for him. He weighs 70lbs and I got the medium. It's fine but he has a hard time carrying it because of its size/shape, and he can't catch it when I toss it to him. Think I'm gonna buy the small size to see if it's any better.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2021
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Beata Leighton
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Love this toy for meals
Color: Purple, Size: Large (Pack of 1)
This toy is phenomenal for use as a slow feeder!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2026
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M.K.
Waukegan, US
★★★★★ 4
Durable, interesting, but not my dog's favorite.
Color: Purple, Size: Large (Pack of 1)
This is a pretty cool treat dispensing toy; the rubber it's made from is very thick and durable, and the irregular shape of it makes it more interesting for the dog. The opening of each compartment has little strips inside that makes the toy dispense treats pretty randomly. You can also snip them so they're shorter, to dispense treats easier. I snipped all of them in my toy, because my dog was having a hard time getting treats out, and I adjusted them several times to where now it's almost too easy to get the treats out. I just couldn't find a happy medium, and of course once you've cut them, you can't uncut them. The only real down side to this toy is that it collects dog fur and can get pretty gross pretty fast. Most of my dog's other toys stay relatively clean when she's using them, but between the material and the pattern and whatnot on the outside, this toy is just a gunk magnet. Fur collects in the little dips between "barnacles" and clings to the slots on the outside of the toy. My dog doesn't really mind, obviously, but I think it's a little gross. ;D My dog for whatever reason favors most of her other toys over this one; even when this is the only toy that still has treats left in it, she'll often ignore it. It's a very high quality toy, though.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2015

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