AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED M All AY STATES. 
No. 2.] FEBRUARY, 1906. [Vol. v. 
EAST INDIAN DRAGON’S BLOOD. 
By H. N. Ridley. 
Dragon’s blood is a red resin obtained from the shells of the 
fruit of certain rattans belonging to the genus Daemonorops, 
natives of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. The genus 
contains about 80 species, but only a few belonging to one 
section, Pipto-spathce, produce this resin. 
The resin iferous species are 
D. didymophyllus Becc. Malay Peninsula. 
D. micr acanthus Becc. „ 
D. propinquus Becc, „ 
D. Draco Bl. (D. ruber Mart). Sumatra. 
D. Draconcellus Becc. Borneo. 
D. mattaniensis Becc. ,, 
D. motleyi Becc. „ 
D. sparsiflorus Becc, „ 
D. ruber BI. Java 
Of these D. micr acanthus, D. propinquus, D. Draco and D. 
Draconcellus, are all known to the Malays as Rotan Jerenang, and 
are the source of the greater part at least of the Dragon’s blood 
of commerce. The remainder are probably also used, but we 
have no facts at present to go on to settle this point. 
D . didymophyllus Becc. 
Stem about 12 feet long, an inch thick, green covered with 
green or olive, large and small flat dagger-shaped spines, leaves 
9 feet long, petile 8 inches long, flattened around with 
long needle-shaped spines, brown with yellow bases, leaflets 
about 20 in alternate pairs, oblong linear acuminate glabrous 
6-12 inches long, one inch wide, spathes about 6, the lowest 7 
inches long, with short flat irregular processes in lines, the 
