The Socotra Archipelago
by Di Higginson
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| Location of Socotra Island |
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| Welcome to Socotra. |
It was a long-held dream to visit the island of Socotra. After a few aborted attempts due to
political uprisings on the Yemeni mainland, I finally visited this remarkable Land
of Bliss in March 2020. The island hosts an unusually high diversity of plants that
are found nowhere else on the planet. I requested a local botanical guide and
had the good fortune to meet Eassa, a Socotri with outstanding knowledge of the
island’s plants. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh team of scientists have
been undertaking botanical surveys on the Archipelago with Eassa and other
islanders complementing the team with their indigenous knowledge of the plants
and their uses. In a very short time they were schooled in scientific
nomenclature, followed by a first ever plane trip to the UK. Their names are
recorded in the hallowed publication on the plants of the islands.
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| Eassa, my knowledgeable Socotra botanical guide |
Socotra island (3665 km2) is the largest of four islands that form the Archipelago. It has a population of about 60,000 people. The other much smaller islands - Abd al Kuri (131 km2), Samha (39 km2) and Darsa (12 km2) - have very little or no human habitation.
Situated in
the western Indian Ocean, east of the Horn of Africa, 250 km from Somalia and
340 km south from Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, the Archipelago is one of the
most isolated land forms of continental origin i.e. not of volcanic origin (see map above). It
was once part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which detached during the
Miocene epoch (23.03 – 5.33Ma), in the same set of rifting events that opened
the Gulf of Aden that lies to the northwest of Socotra. It is culturally and
administratively a part of Yemen but geographically belongs to Africa, as it
represents a continental fragment that is geologically linked to the Somali
Plate.
The island’s
limestone plateaux with the characteristic Karst topography is based on limestone
rock areas that are intersected with inter-hill plains that have a unique and still
active cultural landscape of agropastoralism with its characteristic rain-water
harvesting system. The Karst landscape surface features are depressions,
sinkholes and disappearing streams. The underground features are caves, some
with seven kilometer tunnels, underground rivers and intricate drainage systems.
The central massif of the Haggeher Mountains is composed of granite and
metamorphic rocks, of which Skand has the highest peak of 1503 m.
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| Haggeher mountains |
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| Socotra landscape |
The climate is harsh, hot and dry. Everything on the islands is geared towards surviving the strong desiccating winds of the Monsoon and irregularity of the rains. The narrow plains with characteristic dunes are formed by the monsoon winds blowing during the three summer months. The wind takes up the coastal sand in a spiral and as a result, forms the snow-white Socotran sand dunes. The best time to visit Socotra is from January to May, regarded as the Dry Season. From May to September, it’s either scorching hot or very wet.
Politically,
in 1967 Socotra became part of South Yemen and was incorporated into the new
unified Republic of Yemen when the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen and
the Yemen Arabic Republic merged in 1990.
Today
Socotris make their living from dates, fishing and livestock, involving the Bedouins
of the Mountains and the Men of the Sea. However, it is the date harvest that
sees the islanders through lean times. Frankincense and Dragon’s Blood were the
rich exports of past years.
The Bedouins are
seen to be the true Socotris, speaking the purest forms of the Socotri language,
in contrast to the version spoken in the capital, Hadiboh, which is mixed with
Arabic. I was privileged to sit at lunch on the floor of a communal room in a
hillside village to share tasty food from a communal platter and record poetry
spoken animatedly and with passion in pure Socotri by a villager. I understand this
language is not written because of the complex vowel system. Poetry festivals
are held annually and are the pride of the nation. Much of the content of the
poems is the dissatisfaction with ‘foreigners’ taking over the island in its
history.
The
Archipelago was declared a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008. Described
as ‘the most alien-looking place on Earth’ it is considered the jewel of
biodiversity in the Arabian Sea. The island has been described as ‘a sponge of
fresh water in a salt lake’ (Boggs, 2009)
There are more than 835 vascular plant species endemic to the Archipelago, as are 6 bird species, 5% of terrestrial molluscs and 90% of its reptiles. Socotra is home to several native mammals, none of which is endemic.
The ecoregion
is increasingly at risk from human activities. The World Wildlife Fund
describes the Socotra Archipelago’s conservation status as Critical/ Endangered.
The botany of
Socotra is particularly interesting. Although it is politically part of Yemen,
the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions treats the
Socotra Archipelago as a separate botanical country.
Of the rich
abundance of diverse plants that I photographed and Eassa identified during our
daily plant hunting in different landscapes, the following few were chosen for
this article.
Dracaena
cinnabari Asparagaceae
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| Dracaena cinnabari (The Dragon's Blood tree) |
Flagship species of the islands and National tree of Yemen.
Widely known
as the Dragon’s Blood Tree; not to be confused with other Dracaena
species such as Dracaena draco seen on the Canary Islands.
There are four
distinct stages of development/growth of the plant.
At first it
looks like an insignificant clump of grass (difficult to distinguish from its
surroundings). Then it develops a stout stem with a tuft of leaves at the ends
of the youngest branches (resembling a shaving brush). Eventually it branches
to look like an umbrella blown inside out.
With full
maturity the tree looks like a mushroom with its hemispherical crown. This
unique umbrella-shape crown is a result of leaf distribution and dichotomous
branching.
Finally, it
goes into a slow decline, dying from the centre crown outwards. The plant is
generally very long-lived (a few hundred years)
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| Dracaena cinnabari flowers |
The flowers
are produced around March, varying with location, and tend to grow at the ends
of branches. Its fruits are small fleshy berries containing between 1 and 4
seeds. As they develop, they turn from green to black then orange-red when
ripe.
The tree
reaches up to 9 m in height, 12 m across its crown and has a trunk up to 1.5 m
in diameter. The resin or Dragon’s Blood is collected by chipping the bark with
a knife. It is best collected after the rainy season. Dragon’s Blood resin is also
sourced from other Dracaena species and from the rattan palms (genus Calamus).
The resin has been in use since ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense and
dye.
IUCN conservation
status: Vulnerable
Adenium
obesum subsp. socotranum
Apocynaceae
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| Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum (the Socotran Desert Rose) |
This bizarre,
grotesque bottle tree reaches the height of a small tree and is often
wind-shaped. It is also sometimes included in a broader concept of A. obesum.
The common
name is Socotran Desert Rose. The islanders in the western areas call it ‘Isfid’
meaning ‘useless’ because of the poisonous nature of the plant that provides no
grazing for the goats!
It is the largest of the Adenium species. Mature plants have an enormous swollen, bottle-shaped trunk, which can be solitary or multiple-stemmed and is distinctly striated. The most prominent feature of the plant is the above ground caudex or trunk that can grow up to 2.5 m in diameter and 3.5 m in height. The few small branches that extend from the top of the plant are short and thin and are topped with dense rosettes of dark green, glabrous leaves.
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| Adenium obesum subsp. socotranum flowers |
Flowers are borne at the tops of the
plants and may be present when the plants are leafless in the late spring. The blossoms
are a deep pink to reddish colour. Seeds form in large, opposing horn-like pods
that split open, releasing the seeds. The sap from the stem is widely used for
medicinal purposes.
IUCN conservation
status: Least Concern
Dendrosicyos
socotranus Cucurbitaceae
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| Dendrosicyos socotranus (Cucumber Tree) |
The island’s
version of the cucumber is unique and endemic. It is commonly called the
Cucumber Tree and is one of the largest trees in Socotra. It is the only
tree-forming species of the cucumber family to reach the status of a tree and
height of 6 m.
By storing
water in its trunk, the tree survives the aridity of the island.
The flowers are yellow. The fruits are 4 cm long and orange-coloured when ripe with seed.
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| Dendrosicyos socotranus |
Dorstenia
gigas Moraceae
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| Dorstenia gigas (Socotra Fig Tree) |
This is another
endemic Socotran bottle tree. The common name is Socotra Fig Tree.
It is much
larger than other species of Dorstenia. These trees can be found
scattered across the island, growing from cliffs and rock faces.
Flowers are
star-shaped and green in colour. Stems can grow to 60 cm in diameter and reach 1.5
m in height or more.
IUCN conservation
status: Near Threatened
Aloe perryi Asphodelaceae
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| Aloe perryi (Socotrine Aloe) |
The common
name of this aloe is Socotrine Aloe and it is endemic to Socotra island. The
sap of plants growing in wild colonies is carefully harvested by Socotri women
and sold in little goatskins by Bedouins for its medicinal qualities.
IUCN conservation
status: Near Threatened
Boswellia
sp. Burseraceae
Socotra has 11
endemic Boswellia species of the known 24 species worldwide.
Some species grow
only on rocks and cliffs and others on the ground
These trees
produce frankincense or olibanum, an incense which has been traded for some
5000 years for medicinal use and in religious ceremonies.
The
conservation status of several Socotran Boswellia species has been
updated, with some now classified as Endangered or Critically Endangered. This
is due to factors like habitat loss, overgrazing and the impacts of extreme
weather events.
Other endemic species
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| Excuma affine (Persian Violet) (Gentianaceae), a Socotra endemic. |
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| Kalanchoe robusta (Crassulaceae), a Socotra endemic. |
With a heavy heart I bid farewell to the group of Socotrans at the airport in Hadiboh, taking with me their stories, their history and a camera full of images of their rich endemic flora.
References:
Peutz, N. (2018).
Islands of Heritage: Conservation and Transformation in Yemen
Boggs, R. (2009).
The Lost World of Socotra
Lode, J.
(2023). Succulent Plants of Socotra
Eco Tours Yemen
Miller, A.G. & Morris, M. (2004). The Ethnoflora of
the Socotra Archipelago. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
About the author.
Di’s keen interest in plants began in the horticultural family business followed by years of volunteering at the Durban Botanic Gardens in fund-raising and as a Garden Guide Trainer, resulting in many group trips to the public gardens in America and the UK with the curator. Her curiosity led to explorations of exotic plant life in natural environments in countries such as India, Madagascar and Borneo, with the island of Socotra and later the Yemen mainland being the highlight of her travels. Di is member of the Botanical Society of South Africa and served as Branch Manager and on the National Board of Trustees. She enjoys the many ventures into the local natural grasslands and forests with CREW groups.
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