SOCOTRA, Nov. 22 (Saba) Socotra islands, which harbor many unique species of birds and plants, Dragon's Blood trees, known locally as Dam al-Akhawain.
Prized for its red medicinal sap,the ,e Dragon's Blood is the most striking of 900 plant species on the Socotra islands in the Arabian Sea.
Yemeni legend has it that humanity began here in the land of the dragon’s blood tree, where two brothers, Darsa and Samha, fought to the death. Otherwise known as the brothers Cain and Abel, they were the first people to settle in Socotra: "When the first murder was committed in history and blood flowed, the blood tree of the brothers grew."
There are 750 species of plants on Socotra, 270 of which are endemic to the island, and are found nowhere else on Earth. There are ten species of rare and endangered plants on the island such as the unique blood tree, the olibanum tree, the desert rose, and the myrrh tree.
Socotra is also home to many rare animals and birds. Native marine life is characterized as a hybrid of species from the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Western Pacific. The island boasts 352 species of coral reef, 730 species of coastal fish, and 300 species of crabs, lobsters, and shrimp.
M.M