Dracaena cinnabari (Dragon Blood Tree),
Dracaena cinnabari , the Socotra dragon tree or dragon blood tree , is a dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is so called due to the red sap that the trees produce.
Uses
Dragon's blood is used as a stimulant and abortifacient.[7] The root yields a gum-resin, used in gargle water as a stimulant, astringent and in toothpaste. The root is used in rheumatism , the leaves are a carminative.[8]
The trees can be harvested for their crimson red resin , called dragon's blood which was highly prized in the ancient world and is still used today. Around the Mediterranean basin it is used as a dye and as a medicine , Socotrans use it ornamentally as well as dying wool, gluing pottery, a breath freshener and lipstick . Because of the belief that it is the blood of the dragon it is also used in ritual magic and alchemy . [9] In 1883, the Scottish botanist, Isaac Bayley Balfour identified three grades of resin; the most valuable were tear-like in appearance, then a mixture of small chips and fragments, with a mixture of fragments and debris being the cheapest. [3] The resin of D. cinnabari is thought to have been the original source of dragons blood until during the mediaeval and renaissance periods when other plants were used instead. [10]
The local inhabitants of the city in the Socotra Island use the dragon's blood resin as a cure-all. They use it in general wound healing, as a coagulant, cure for diarrhea, for dysentery diseases, for lowering fevers. It is also taken for ulcers in the mouth, throat, intestines and stomach.
Dragon's blood of Dracaena cinnabari was used as a source of varnish for 18th century Italian violin -makers. It was also used as tooth-paste in the 18th century. It is currently still used as varnish for violins and for photoengraving.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_cinnabari