Socotra is famous for the endemic dragon’s blood tree, Dracaena cinnabari.
Socotra is the largest island in the Socotra archipelago, which belongs to Yemen and lies in the Arabian Sea near the Horn of Africa. Its long geographic isolation produced an unusually high number of endemic plants and animals.
The dragon’s blood tree has a distinctive umbrella-shaped crown. Its red resin, historically called dragon’s blood, has been used in traditional medicine, dyes, and varnishes. Socotra’s bottle-shaped desert rose, or Socotra tree, is another signature plant.
UNESCO designated the Socotra Archipelago a World Heritage Site in 2008. Although Socotra is sometimes compared with Madagascar because of its unusual biodiversity, it is a separate Arabian Sea island group and is politically part of Yemen.