Section 3
12. Dragon Tree
Scientific name: Dracaena draco
Provenance: Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife)
Conservation status: Endangered
Continue on the asphalt pathway. You can see the dragon tree on your right at the entrance to the Canary Islands Path. This unique succulent can reach surprising heights and widths, up to 25 feet (~7.5 meters) both tall and across. The fibers of the dragon tree’s leaves are strong, being used for weaving. Greenish-white flowers appear on the tree in late spring, giving orange to red fruits in late fall. Red sap from the tree (famously known as dragon’s blood) has been highly valued in the past to dye wool.
13. Golden Trumpet Tree
Scientific name: Handroanthus chrysotrichus (syn. Tabebuia chrysotricha)
Provenance: Brazil to northeastern Argentina
Conservation status: Not listed (considered threatened by national governments)
Keep going on the asphalt pathway. You will encounter an intersection; take a left. Almost immediately on your left will be a golden trumpet tree. Standing tall is the golden trumpet tree with, depending on the season, a rounded crown of olive-green leaves and rich yellow flowers. The fruits of the golden trumpet are sinuous and long, being covered in dense brown hairs that are also found on the undersides of the tree’s leaves. Golden trumpet is very drought tolerant, with the tree further assisting its survival and propagation in its seeds literally having wings to fly with the wind.
14. Cork Oak
Scientific name: Quercus suber
Provenance: Southern Europe, northern Africa
Conservation status: Least Concern
Go back to the intersection; walk straight and look to your left. Cork oak’s bark is used extensively to make bottle stoppers, bulletin boards, coasters, and many other everyday objects; harvesting of bark from a cork oak, which usually occurs every ten years after the bark has regrown, does not harm the tree. Despite the tree’s bark being intensely ridged and fissured, it is somewhat spongy to the touch. This sponginess contributes to the species being susceptible to fungi and insect borers. The tree does well in partially sunny conditions and is exceptionally drought tolerant, coming from the area of the Mediterranean Sea.