DRAGON OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 157 



Doon, a Cingalese name for Doona zeylanica, a large tree of 

 the Dipterocarpacete family, native of Ceylon; the timber is much 

 esteemed for building purposes. A resin exudes from the trunk 

 resembling dammar, which is mixed with paddy -husks, and 

 used for burning in lamps. 



Doorda, or Doorwa, the name in India for Cynodon dadylon, 

 a creeping-rooted, perennial, low grass, its flowers being digitate 

 in spikes; it is a native of this country, but rare. In many 

 countries it occupies large areas ; Dr. Spruce describes it as 

 abundant on the eastern sloj^es of the Andes. By its creeping 

 roots it spreads rapidly, and may be called a conqueror, as other 

 plants give way to it. In India it abounds in the Sunderbunds. 

 When its leaves dry up in the sun, its roots form a never-failing 

 supply for feeding horses in Calcutta, and a cooling drink is 

 said to be made from them. 



Doum Palm. {See Gingerbread Palm.) 



Dragon's Blood {Calamus draco), a w^ing-leaved, slender- 

 stemmed palm, similar in habit to that which furnishes the 

 chair canes. It is a native of Sumatra and other Malayan 

 islands. The fruits, which grow in bunches, are about the size 

 of a cherry, and are covered with imbricating scales of a red 

 colour coated with a resinous substance, which is collected 

 by placing the fruits in a bag and shaking them ; the friction 

 loosens the resin, which is then formed into sticks or cakes, and 

 constitutes the best Dragon's Blood of commerce. It is used for 

 varnishing and staining wood, etc. Other species of Calamus 

 help to furnish the Dragon's Blood of commerce. 



Dragon's Blood Tree {Dracmna draco), a tree of the Lily 

 family (Liliacea^), native of the West Coast of Africa, Canaries, 

 and adjacent islands. Young plants of this have a similar 

 appearance to Yucca gloriosa, but it grows into a large tree ; 

 after having attained a certain height it produces branches. 

 The famous dragon tree of Orotava, in Teneriffe, believed to be 

 the oldest vegetable organism in the world, is stated to have 

 been 70 feet high and 48 feet in circumference ; its stem was 

 hollow, and had a staircase in it as high as the point where its 



