Dragon’s Blood
Dragon’s Blood (Shows grooves left by the cloth, reddish-brown)
Dragon’s Blood (Darker color, second-grade product)
Dragon’s Blood (Irregular fragments, hard and brittle, shiny, bright deep red powder)
Unprocessed raw Dragon’s Blood
【Naming】
【Source】
Newly Revised Materia Medica
【Common Use Degree】
C
【Botanical Origin】
The resin exuded from the fruits and trunks of Daemonorops draco B1. of the Palm family, which is heated, steamed and pressed.
【Characteristics】
The dried resin presents as irregular lumps of varying sizes. The surface has grooves and cloth patterns left from being wrapped in cloth. It is reddish-brown with a shiny, flat and round bottom. It is hard and brittle in texture, with a purplish-brown fracture surface that has a glassy luster and sometimes small holes. When burned, it emits a smoky and pungent odor. When ground into a powder, it is a bright deep red. It has no fragrance, tastes sweet and salty, and feels sandy when chewed.
【Identification】
《Compendium of Materia Medica》: “That which penetrates the fingernail is genuine”, “When burned with fire, if red juice gushes out and the ash does not change its original color for a long time, it is genuine”, “But that which does not rot like wax when chewed is of the highest quality.” 《Seeking Truth in Materia Medica》: “That which stains the fingernail and does not change color when burned into ash is good.” 《Identifying Augmented Herbs》: “To verify authenticity, that which does not rot like wax when chewed is of the highest quality, and that which stains the fingernail when ground is truly genuine.”
That which is black as iron in appearance, red as blood when ground into powder, and whose smoke is pungent when burned, the pungency being due to the odor of Benzoic acid, and which, when placed on tin foil and smoked with fire, melts into a blood-red transparent liquid with no impurities, is good; that which is red or ashen in color, with yellowish powder, and many impurities is second-grade.
【Category】
Resins