About 200 miles from main­land Yemen exists an iso­lat­ed island called Soco­tra. On it, a strange col­lec­tion of flo­ra and fau­na — includ­ing the won­der­ful­ly weird drag­on’s blood tree — has specif­i­cal­ly adapt­ed to suit the hot and harsh envi­ron­ment. Look­ing like an odd Dr. Seuss mush­room tree, Dra­cae­na cinnabari has a curi­ous umbrel­la­like ori­en­ta­tion that enables it to col­lect mois­ture from the high­land mist while also cre­at­ing shade to pro­tect the seedlings sprout­ing up beneath the adult tree. How­ev­er, the red sap that oozes from its trunk and gives it its name is per­haps its most sto­ry­book qual­i­ty.