Dracaena cinnabari

Other Names: Socotra Dragon Tree, a’arhiyib

Family: Asparagaceae

Natural Range: Yemen (Socotra archipelago)

The Socotra dragon tree is an iconic tree with a long history of commercial use. It is known only from the island of Socotra, Yemen, where it lives within remnants of prehistoric ‘Dragonsblood’ forest on granite mountains and limestone plateaus.

The island of Socotra’s 34-million-year separation from mainland Arabia has given rise to a unique flora – 37% of its plant species are found nowhere else.

The monsoon season brings these areas cloud, drizzle and sea mists – and the dragon trees’ leaves intercept this airborne moisture, channelling it towards root systems shaded by a dense, umbrella-shaped canopy. The dragon tree’s strange looks and ancient age belie a species expertly adapted to its environment.

This remarkable tree has been economically important for centuries. Local people value it as food for livestock: feeding very small quantities of berries to cows and goats improves their health, though they cause sickness in excess.

The tree is perhaps best known for the red resin it is named after. Known to Socotris as ‘emzoloh’, this has a range of traditional medicinal uses. Referred to by the ancients as ‘cinnabar’, it was well known in trade before 60AD; and the dye ‘dragon’s blood’ is thought to have been responsible for the intense colour of Stradivarius violins.

Despite all this, the future of the species is uncertain. Few populations are regenerating naturally, and in some areas young trees lack the species’ characteristic umbrella shape.

The most significant problem is climate change: Socotra is drying out, with once reliable monsoon weather becoming patchy and irregular.

The tree can expect to lose 45% of its potential habitat by 2080, and while expanding the Skund Nature Sanctuary could protect two potential refuge areas, this level of conservation work will not save the species.

Unless major steps are taken to mitigate climate change soon, the future of Socotra’s iconic and ancient Dragon tree – along with countless other species around the world – is very much in doubt.

https://globaltrees.org/threatened-trees/trees/socotra-dragon-tree/

Here is a video of a close up of the trees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR3J-UuNoNk

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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • WhyEssEff [she/her]M
    ·
    2 years ago

    Me last year: I want to be social but if I look at someone wrong they might place a generational curse on me

    Me this year: boutta make some idle convo with this unoccupied person not like either of us are doing anything

    • WhyEssEff [she/her]M
      ·
      2 years ago

      not me attaining basic social skills in my sophomore year of college smh my head my head

  • Sen_Jen [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    OH for fucks sake I just realized someone was flirting with me two years ago Jesus how did I not fucking pick up on that at the time

    • TillieNeuen [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      My favorite time I didn't realize someone was flirting with me:

      Me: (walking out of a department store)
      Him: (walking up to store) "Where do you work out?"
      Me: "I don't." (keeps walking)
      fin

      In my defense, I did not think I looked like somebody that worked out, so I thought he was being weird and maybe mean and ended up being rude back. It took a friend pointing out that he was probably trying to flirt with me to realize that he didn't see me the way I saw myself. It is pretty funny in hindsight though. Just deadpan "I don't" and continuing into the parking lot. That poor guy, he was just trying to talk to me and I thought he was making fun of me.

      • Sen_Jen [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        thats both hilarious and kinda adorable

        in my case i was in my last year of secondary school and this girl who was nice and i got on well enough with started talking to me a lo, and she was drawing cute pictures of bees for me and sitting on the grass and chatting with me in the sun. it was like heavy-handed flirting in a bad teen movie and i completely missed it

        also one time i was walking out of a concert and some girl said to me "you're stunning" and i was like "oh thanks" and i just walked off

        • TillieNeuen [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I'm loving the interaction of "you're stunning" and "oh thanks." That's wonderful.

  • Wheaties [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    :shhh: secret comment on the secret unstickied mega :shhh:

    • Wheaties [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      :meow-bug: THE COMMENT IS NO LONGER SECRET :meow-bug:

  • Ho_Chi_Chungus [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    :data-laughing: me laughing at flat earthers

    :ohnoes: me when they all jump me in a back alley and one of them says "take him to the edge"

  • Sen_Jen [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Hmm I have been identifying as non-binary in my head and online for a bit but I think agender might be more accurate. I don't really care about gender or fitting into any gender roles and I don't think any of it applies to me. I don't get gender euphoria from being androgynous or masculine or feminine, but I like the image of being just a little scoundrel goblin to whom gender is irrelevant.

    I don't know how I'll ever come out irl though because I feel like even if people accept me, they won't believe themselves that I'm agender. Mainly because I'm big and buff and hairy and I have a beard and I usually wear men's clothes.

    • silent_water [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      maybe mix in some more feminine attire for a bit and see how receptive people are? it'll help make it stick that you're definitely agender if your gender expression is Chaotic Neutral already. and at least personally, (I'm pretty close to binary trans femme so idk if this will apply) I was so caught up in fear at how people would react that taking a bunch of very small steps helped me break the ice internally, and shed a lot of the internalized transphobia.

  • Abstraction [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    (Yeonmi Park voice): In North Korea our emergency number is 666, and if you call it the fire department will come to set your house on fire

  • OliCromwellOfficial [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Not actively suicidal, just "my heart is beating a bit weird atm, I hope it stops in my sleep tonight"

        • plinky [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Why wouldn’t they, you can make basically game of thrones/succession/culinary one or whatever current series is popular.

          It’s a good setting, just expensive. And southern plantation dream was nearly greenlit by same game of thrones writers, it’s not that impossible

  • Cherufe [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    To me democracy is just a regular demo :joker-shopping:

  • DoghouseCharlie [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Driving is such a necessity in so many parts of the US that telling someone they can't drive is equivalent to telling them they can't work or eat. So so many people that shouldn't be driving get pushed through the system because you can't really tell anyone no.

    • Wheaties [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Yeah, any public push to de-couple US cities from auto dependance has to start with increasing buses. Don't talk about reducing cars use. You're trying to increase commuter choice. Us information from the buses to plan new light rail. Why? To increase commuter choice. It's about commuter choice. You sell yankees on buses and trains the same way you sell them on anything: feel good advertising. COMMUTER CHOICE