[Dragon's blood. A glance into the history of pharmacognosy].

Dragon's blood, a red resin, which is often used as a dry powdered "herbal" remedy in traditional medicine, has different origins which are briefly discussed. This contribution however focuses on the species of the genus Dracaena Vand ex L., belonging to the Agavaceae and native to the Old World and the Canary Islands. H.J.N. Crantz, a botanist and medical doctor turned pharmacologist (born in 1722 near Luxembourg), had published a brief and very uncommon treatise on this group of plants, which he only knew from botanical gardens. The pharmacognostical and historical background of dragon's blood use is at the core of this contribution--the drug itself being of no major importance in today's medical care.