The oldest Dragon Tree in Tenerife

The Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) belongs to the genus Dracaena. The foliage-decorative dracaena is familiar to all flower growers, but few know that this representative of indoor flora is a relic plant.

Thousands of tourists come annually to the town of Icod de los Vinos to visit Drago Park (Parque del Drago), where a unique tree grows. The park is located in the northeastern part of Tenerife, 25 kilometers from the city of Puerto de la Cruz.

You can find a guidebook for the island of Tenerife here.

From the beautiful valley, you can see the «snow mountain» — the Teide volcano. Against the backdrop of the majestic Teide, the huge tree looks unusual and monumental. According to scientists’ calculations, the age of this specimen is about 300 years. The total mass of the trunk and crown of the plant is approximately 80 tons.

Features of the Plant

The Dragon Tree or Dracaena draco is one of the most ancient plants on Earth. It is a succulent, a relative of the cactus. In nature, it is found in Cape Verde, Madeira, western Morocco, the Azores, and the Canary Islands.

The Dragon Tree has red sap with a high content of pigments – it has preservative and healing properties. The plant got its mystical name because of this unusual resin. According to the legend of the Guanches, the first trees grew from the blood of a dragon killed in a battle with a fearless and strong elephant.

The Dragon Tree grows extremely slowly. In a decade, it gains no more than a meter in height, and in its first years, it is just a bare trunk with sparse leaves. Flowering begins after 8-10 years; by this time, all leaves have fallen off. Gradually, the main trunk begins to branch out, and these branches also grow slowly and very tightly, forming a dense umbrella-like crown with a fanciful interweaving. The leaves are narrow, rigid, leathery, and arranged in bunches.

Symbol of the Island of Tenerife

The huge Dragon Tree has become a symbol of the island of Tenerife. Its image is depicted on heraldic symbols, guidebooks, advertising posters, and product labels. The inhabitants of Tenerife say that once upon a time, a giant dracaena grew in La Orotava, and it was six thousand years old. The scientist Alexander von Humboldt discovered and described this tree in 1799 (however, later modern biologists calculated that the plant lived much less – about six hundred years).

Unfortunately, the unique specimen of dracaena did not survive: a hurricane toppled the tree in the 19th century. However, in Parque del Drago park, its ancient relative survived – a 20-meter-high Dragon Tree, about 9 meters in circumference at the bottom of the trunk.

The cost of an entrance ticket to Parque del Drago is €5. You can also see and photograph this tree for free from viewing platforms outside the park.