Bleeding trees

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Bloodwood Trees

There are actually trees that bleeds when cut down like humans. These trees may look like normal trees - but once cut, they "bleed”.
                                                                                              Picture courtesy Google images

The Desert bloodwood tree (Corymbia Opaca) the African wild teak tree (Pterocarpus Angolensis) and the Dragon blood tree, (Dracaena Cinnabari) each produce a dark red liquid that looks disturbingly like blood. Therefore, these trees have become commonly known as bloodwood trees Actually. the "blood" seeping out of a damaged bloodwood tree isn't blood – but the red sap that the trees produce when cut, bears a shocking resemblance to human blood. The bloodwood trees get its name from its dark-red sap.

      Picture courtesy Google images

The reason behind the dark red colour of its sap is a chemical called 'tannin'- the same as what is found in wine. While the other trees produce white and yellowish sap, bloodwood trees produce red colour sap. Regular plant sap has 12 - 20% tannin. But bloodwood trees have sap that is 77% tannin.

  Picture courtesy Google images

Pterocarpus Angolensis is a native wild teak tree of south Africa. Dracaena Cinnabari, the Socotra dragon tree or dragon blood tree, is a dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago, part of Yemen, located in the Arabian sea. Corymbia Opaca, also known as the desert bloodwood, is a species of tree that is endemic to northern Australia. 

The sap of the bloodwood tree is traditionally used as a dye to colour various things.

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