Dragon Blood Tree
Dracaena cinnabari · Plant
The dragon’s blood tree grows only on the island of Socotra in Yemen. Its dense umbrella crown shades its roots and captures moisture from mist.
Key facts
- Scientific name
- Dracaena cinnabari
- Kind
- Plant
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN VU)
- Habitat
- Arid mountains
- Range
- Socotra archipelago, Yemen
- Size
- Up to about 10 m tall
- Lifespan
- Several hundred years
- Diet
- Photosynthesis
- Activity
- Evergreen · very slow growing
- Population
- Restricted to Socotra
Diet
Its upward-pointing leaves and umbrella crown channel rain and fog moisture toward the trunk and roots.
Behavior
Its dark red resin, called dragon’s blood, has been used as dye, varnish and medicine since ancient times.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Tracheophyta
- Class
- Liliopsida
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Genus
- Dracaena
- Species
- D. cinnabari
Conservation
Vulnerable: few young trees survive, so many stands are aging without replacement.
Main threats
- Drying climate
- Grazing goats eat seedlings