The Dragon Tree Icod de los Vinos Tenerife

Just how old is this extraordinary tree? The age of the Thousand Year Old Dragon Tree is often exaggerated to two or even three thousand years in reality, this majestic specimen, the oldest known, probably dates back about 600 years. More remarkable perhaps is that the species itself Dracaena draco, closely related to the yucca has barely evolved since the age of the dinosaurs. It has long been an object of fascination, not just among modern botanists and naturalists, but among all who are sensitive to magic and mystery. That's partly because of its curious form, growing like a bundle of separate trunks clinging together before bursting to create the drago's distinctive mushroom shape. Weirdest of all is the drago's strange resin, which turns as red as blood on contact with the air. Though nothing is known of Guanche beliefs, many people insist that the drago was worshipped by these first inhabitants of the island, who did use its resin for embalming.

Standing 17m high and with a diameter of 6m, the Drago Milenario is the main attraction at Icod de los Vinos, an attractive little wine town on the west coast. One of Tenerife's largest Guanche settlements stood here when the Europeans arrived, and the Drago Milenario was already mature when the Spanish took control. The gigantic tree is now protected in a garden, while bars and souvenir shops around cash in on the tree's mystique. Different from the rest, and an attraction in itself, is the traditional and pretty shop, Casa del Drago.