Umbrella Dragon Tree

The Umbrella Dragon Tree (Dracaena umbraculifera) is a species of Dragon Tree that can be found on the Island of Mauritius, located in the southern Indian Ocean. It is considered so rare that some think it is already extinct in the wild. A total of only 16 individuals known to exist on this planet.

The Umbrella Dragon Tree can reach 10 meters in height, but its growth is slow. Its lance-shaped leaves do give the appearance of an umbrella and they measure about a meter in length. In the summer the tree blooms with little red flowers, followed by small orange berries.

The first part of its scientific name, Dracaena, is a feminine form of the Greek word Drakon and therefore means 'female dragon'. The second part, umbraculifera, is a combination word from both Greek and Latin: ultimately from the Greek word ombros (ομβρος), which means 'shade' or 'shadow', umbraculum means 'parasol' in Latin. We can still detect our present day word 'umbrella' in it. Fera is from the Greek pherein and can be translated as 'bearing' or 'carrying'. Glued together the word means '(it) carries (leaves) like an umbrella'.

There is a bit of confusion about the true origin of the Umbrella Dragon Tree. It was described for the first time in 1797 by Jacquin, as originating in Mauritius, and documented the natural history museum in Paris in 1804. However, some botanists from the Botanical Garden of Monza in 1842 suggest that this species of Dragon Tree might originate from the Indonesian island of Java.