General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 9b -3.9 °C (25 °F) to -1.1 °C (30 °F)
Plant Height: 15-25 feet or more
Plant Spread: 15-25 feet or more
Leaves: Evergreen
Fruit: Showy
Flower Color: Green
Other: Cream or greenish white
Flower Time: Late winter or early spring
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Flowering Tree
Will Naturalize
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Pollinators: Self
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Tolerates poor soil
Conservation status: Vulnerable (VU)

Conservation status:
Conservation status: Vulnerable
Image
Common names
  • Canary Islands Dragon Tree
  • Drago
  • Dragon Tree
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Dracaena draco
  • Synonym: Dracaena draco subsp. draco

Photo Gallery
Uploaded by OrchidBob
Location: Baja California
Date: 2022-12-24
6 years after flowering, zero supplemental water
Location: Botanical garden of Madeira
Date: 2023-04-11
Location: Botanical garden of Madeira
Date: 2023-04-11
As high tree
Location: St Petersburg, Florida 
Date: 12/23/22
Stem at point of leaf attachment
Location: Orto Botanico di Cagliari - Sardinia
Date: 2017-09-10
Location: Dragon tree (Dracaena draco) in the Museu do Vinho do Pico, estimated at between 500-1000 years old, Lagido, Santa Luzia, municipality of São Roque do Pico, Pico, Azores (Portugal)
Date: 2010-08-21
Photo courtesy of:José Luís Ávila Silveira/Pedro Noronha e Cos
Location: Botanical garden of Madeira
Date: 2023-04-11
Location: Baja California
Date: 2023-11-13
A few months old, still distichous, 6" pot
Location: San Diego Botanic Garden
Date: 2018-07-15
Location: Botanical garden of Barcelona (Spain)
Date: 2022-04-16
Location: Hortus Botanicus Leiden
Date: 2022-03-26
Location: Baja California
Date: 2016-04-28
Location: Baja California
Date: 2016-03-29

Date: 4000-03-20
Illustration from 'Wonders of the Vegetable World', 1896

Date: 2022-09-04
Location: Botanical garden of Barcelona (Spain)
Date: 2022-04-16
Location: Huntington Gardens, San Marino
Date: 2014-06-06
Location: Botanical garden of Madeira
Date: 2023-04-11
Location: Botanical garden of Madeira
Date: 2023-04-11
As high tree
Location: San Diego Botanic Garden
Date: 2018-07-15
Location: Tossa de Mar, Spain | April, 2023 
Date: 2023-04-04
Location: Baja California
Date: 2023-08-07
A few weeks old
Location: Baja California
Date: 2016-04-28
Location: St Petersburg, Florida 
Date: 12/23/22
Plant with single lead
Location: St Petersburg, Florida 
Date: 12/23/22
Multi lead plant
Location: St Petersburg, Florida 
Date: 12/23/22
Location: Mt Penang Botanical Gardens, Kariong, N.S.W., Australia
Date: 2018-05-03
Location: Baja California
Date: 2017-01-21

Date: 2022-09-04
Adolsecent plant, start of branching
Location: National Botanical Garden, DC, Virginia :) | May, 2022
Date: 2022-05-28
Location: St Petersburg, Florida 
Date: 12/23/22
Location: Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden in Pennsylvania, USA.
Date: 2005-05-01
Photo courtesy of:Raul654
Location: Huntington Gardens, San Marino
Date: 2014-06-06
Location: Ilha do Pico
Date: 2010-10-28
Photo courtesy of:Guillaume Baviere
Location: Monte juic
Date: 2019-04-25
Location: Insel La Palma
Date: 2010-03-18
Photo courtesy of:Rosa-Maria Rinkl

Photo courtesy of:Mokkie
Location: San Diego, Ca
Date: 2013-08-15
Location: Beverly Hills, California, United States
Date: 2017-10-11
Silhouette.
Location: Naples, FL
Date: 2016-10-11
At the Naples Zoo

Date: 2022-08-31
Location: Mt Penang Botanical Gardens, Kariong, N.S.W., Australia
Date: 2018-05-03
Location: Monte juic
Date: 2019-04-25
The dragons blood?

Photo courtesy of:Sharktopus
Location: Botanical Garden of Lisbon (Jardim Botânico de Lisboa). Portugal.
Date: 2013-04-21
Photo courtesy of:Salix
Location: San Diego, Ca
Date: 2013-08-15
Location: Exemplares Dragoeiros Jardim Florencio Terra
Date: 2011-09-30
Photo courtesy of:Nelson Silva
Location: San Diego, Ca
Date: 2013-08-15

photo credit: H. Zell

Date: 2022-09-06
Unripe fruit

Date: 2022-09-04

Date: 2022-09-04
Location: Baja California
Date: 2017-05-24
Branching a year after flowering for the first time
Location: Balboa Park, San Diego, California 
Date: 2013-08-15
Location: Lanzarote, Canary Islands.

Date: 2022-09-06
Comments:
  • Posted by Baja_Costero (Baja California - Zone 11b) on Apr 18, 2017 2:40 PM concerning plant:
    Canary Islands tree which may grow to imposing proportions and live for hundreds of years, given just the right spot. Relatively common in cultivation in mild climates. Drought tolerant. Enjoys extreme exposure and good drainage. Suitable as a container plant when young, given strong light. A single head may reach about 3-4 feet wide. Leaves are shed from the bottom of rosettes during normal growth as the stem extends. Different populations exist with varying features.

    Flowers appear after a few years (sometimes at just a couple of feet tall, up to 6-10 feet) and plants stop growing new leaves until the show is done, but then branch afterwards. May be self fertile. Fruit (an orange berry) is highly edible to birds and mammals. Young seedlings are fast growing and quick to become independent.

    One of the sources of dragon's blood, a red resin, but not an original source from ancient times (the closely related D. cinnabari from Socotra was used by the Romans). There are also populations of D. draco in Cape Verde and on the mainland. Common name in Spanish is drago.

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