Calamus draco
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Arecales
Family: Arecaceae
Subfamily: Calamoideae
Tribe: Calameae
Genus: Calamus
Species:
C. draco
Binomial name
Calamus draco
Synonyms
  • Calamus draconis Oken
  • Daemonorops draco (Willd.) Blume
  • Daemonorops rubra (Reinw. ex Blume) Mart.
  • Palmijuncus draco (Willd.) Kuntze

Calamus draco is an Asian species of rattan plant in the family Arecaceae; its native range is from peninsular Thailand to western Malesia.[1][2] It is a source of the red resin known as dragon's blood, which is a pigment with medicinal uses.[3]

Description

Calamus draco has stems in clusters forming individual rattan stems climbing up to 15 m., with sheaths to 30 mm diameter. Leaf fronds are described as cirrate (with a cirrus: extension of the rattan leaf tip armed with grappling hooks), produced from leaf-sheaths, which are bright green, bearing chocolate-coloured indumentum when young: they are 2.5 m long including petiole (up to 300 mm and armed with groups of short lateral spines to 6 mm long); the cirrus is about 1 m long. About 20 regularly arranged leaflets are on each side of the rachis. The mature fruit are more or less ovoid, 28 x 20 mm, covered in 16 vertical rows of scales and may be heavily encrusted with the "dragon's blood".[2]

References

  1. โ†‘ Willdenow CL (1799) Species Plantarum. Editio Quarta. Berolini [Berlin], ed. 4 2(1): 203.
  2. 1 2 "Calamus draco Willd". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  3. โ†‘ Gibbs A; Green C; Doctor VM. (1983). "Isolation and anticoagulant properties of polysaccharides of Typha augustata and Daemonorops species". Thromb. Res. 32 (2): 97โ€“108. doi:10.1016/0049-3848(83)90021-X. PMID 6658717.
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