Genuine Dragons Blood Resin ‘Dracaena Cinnabari’

Description

There are several cheaper types of ‘Dragons Blood’ resins on the open market that share this common name but actually come from other regions and species of plant.

Dracaena Draco resin from Northwest Africa and other areas is probably the most accessible and well used. Daemonorops palm resin from Southeast Asia and Croton lechleri from the Amazon.

The genuine and FAMED Dragons Blood resin is only found on Socotra Island in Yemen and harvested from the Dracaena cinnabari or ‘Dragon Tree’.

Immediately on burning on its own there is an aroma of red wine and dark florals that gradually turn to an earthy, balsamic and ethereal scent. This resin is meant to accompany other resins like frankincense and myrrh to create a warmer, fuller and richer scent. Play around and experiment!

This tree has been in heavy decline in recent years but not due to over harvesting. Over the last 80’years a growing and nibbling goat population plus harsher scorching climate has meant that saplings are struggling to take. Most of the hardy trees left in the island are many hundreds of years old and although nurseries are producing saplings now they only grow at a rate of 2.5cm per 5 years. Repopulating the island will take a long time but the people on Socotra are helping to see it through for later generations.