El Drago Milenario


El Drago, also known as Drago Milenario and Drago de Icod de los Vinos, is the oldest and largest living specimen of Dracaena draco, or dragon tree, in Parque del Drago, Icod de los Vinos, Tenerife, Spain. It is said to be a thousand years old, although the age is disputed. It is one of the symbols of Tenerife, and was declared a national monument in 1917.

Description

It is the largest and oldest living specimen of Dracaena draco. It is in Parque del Drago, Icod de los Vinos in Tenerife. It is around tall, with a circumference around. It has over 300 main branches. The trunk contains a cavity accessible by a door, with a fan installed to provide ventilation. It is estimated to weigh around. When it flowered in 1995, it had around 1,800 flowering branches, with its weight increasing by during the fruiting season.
It is one of the symbols of Tenerife. It was depicted on the 1,000 peseta note. It is part of the coat of arms for the Icod de los Vinos municipality and appears in local legends. While the tree is in the Parque del Drago, which charges for entry, it is possible to view it for free from the town square.

History

The specimen's age is disputed. It is thought to be around 800–1,000 years old. Alexander von Humboldt estimated a similar tree on the island to be several thousand years old, and a 1907 estimate by professors and students of the Polytechnic School of Zurich put it at 2,500 years old, but an upper limit of 350 years was placed on it in 1975 by Mägdefrau, while other studies suggest that it is around 1,000 years old.
It was declared a national monument in 1917. In the 1930s, part of the base was closed with stones and cement. In 1985 it was studied by arboriculturist Kenneth Alien, who reopened the entrance and installed a large fan inside the trunk cavity to aid air circulation and prevent fungal growth. In 1993 the road that passed within a few metres of the tree was rerouted. Since 2002 it has been considered for submission to UNESCO as a world heritage candidate.