Calamus draco
Calamus draco
Calamus draco is an Asian species of rattan plant in the family Arecaceae; its native range is from peninsular Thailand to western Malesia. It is a source of the red resin known as dragon's blood, which is a pigment with medicinal uses. The compound 4'-demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomine (DMDHE), derived from the resin of Daemonorops draco, the homotypic synonym for Calamus draco, is a natural bitter-masking substance. This compound, which masks the bitter taste, suggests the importance for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries to improve the taste and acceptability of foods and medicines
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Gallery
Calamus draco - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-0239093Yantok 07Calamus draco - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-0239093Yantok 07Overview
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". Calamus draco - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-023.jpg 9016Cusisine foods of Bulacan 13.jpg Dragon's blood (Daemomorops draco).jpg
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Indonesia89%
- India3%
- Laos2%
- China2%
- United States2%
- Mexico1%
- Singapore1%
References
- 1Calamus draco — Wikipedia — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), 2026
- 2Isolation and anticoagulant properties of polysaccharides of ''Typha augustata'' and ''Daemonorops'' species — Thromb. Res., 1983
- 3Identification of 4′-Demethyl-3,9-dihydroeucomin as a Bitter-Masking Compound from the Resin of Daemonorops draco — Wikipedia, 2024
- 4GBIF — occurrence records of Calamus draco — GBIF, 2026
- 5Hình ảnh — Wikimedia Commons (2 ảnh, giấy phép CC/PD) — Wikimedia Commons, 2026