Socotra Dragon Tree

Socotra, an island and smallish archipelago south of Yemen and east of Somalia, is home to the Socotra Dragon Tree (Dracaena cinnabri). Locally called the dragon blood tree, it has a unique and strange appearance, sometimes described as 'upturned, densely packed crown having the shape of an uprightly held umbrella'. This evergreen species is named after its dark red resin, which is locally known as 'dragon's blood'.

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, cinnabari, derives from the Greek κινναβαρι (kinnabari), which used to refer to the common bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury sulfide (HgS), but also for the red resin of this species.
The Socotra Dragon Tree may reach a height of some 10 meters. It blooms with small clusters of fragrant, white or green flowers. The flowers tend to grow at the end of the branches. Its small fruits are fleshy berries containing between 1 and 3 seeds. As they develop they turn from green to black and then become orange once they are ripe. The berries are eaten by birds and the seeds are dispersed via their excrement. The berries exude a deep red resin, known as dragon’s blood.

The medicinal and colouring properties of this resin, and that from other dragon tree species, was recorded by the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. It continues to be used by the islanders in medicine, dyes, varnish and incense to this day.

Along with other Dracaena species it has a distinctive growth habit called 'dracoid habitu'. Its leaves are found only at the end of its youngest branches and theses leaves are all shed every 3 or 4 years before new leaves simultaneously mature. Branching tends to occur when the growth of the terminal bud is stopped, due to either flowering or traumatic events such as being eaten by a herbivoral animal.