Morpho-anatomical basis of dragon’s blood secretion in Dracaena draco stem

• We report on the anatomical status of the tissues responsible for dragon’s blood secretion.
• Secretory tissues differ in terms of location and morphology.
• Red resin is produced by cells within the primary and secondary plant body.
• Cortex cells with polyphenols and ground parenchyma cells are the sources of dragon’s blood.
• We hypothesize that the depth of stem wounding affects resin sourcing.

The monocot tree Dracaena draco L. is famous for the production of a red resin referred to as dragon’s blood. This resin has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times by many cultures. Dragon’s blood chemistry is well described, however, the data concerning its secretion and distribution following injury is still fragmentary, although it can help in resin sourcing. The goal of the study was to characterize for the first time the anatomical status of the secretory tissue responsible for the red resin production and storage. The study was carried out with hand sections and thin sections of an Epon-embedded samples collected from the cut and wounded stem of a 5-year-old D. draco plants.The two tissues responsible for the red resin secretion differ in terms of location and morphology. These are (a) the groups of ground parenchyma cells of both primary and secondary origin, and (b) the cells of cortex containing polyphenolic-like inclusions. Following wounding of the stem, parenchyma cells secrete the resin and form a barrier zone that isolates the injured tissues. The depth of wounding influences resin sourcing.