மர்ம Socotra தீவு (இந்திய பெருங்கடல்)The Mysterious Socotra Island (Indian Ocean)

The Mysterious Socotra Island (Indian Ocean)

Welcome
to the Alien lands of Socotra, with strange trees like the Dragon Blood
Tree! You would be inclined to think you were transported to another
planet - or traveled to another era of Earth’s history. Socotra Island,
which is part of a group of four islands, has been geographically
isolated from mainland Africa for the last 6 or 7 million years. The
archipelago features narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau with
caves, and mountains which rise to 1,525 meters above sea level.

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Socotra
is a small Yemeni archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian
Ocean off the coast of the Horn of Africa, about 350 kilometers south of
the Arabian peninsula.


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Like
the Galapagos Islands, this island is teeming with 800 extremely rare
species of flora and fauna, a full 1/3 of which are endemic, i.e. found
nowhere else on Earth.

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Socotra
is home to more than 800 species of plants, some 240 of which are
endemic to the island, and there are certainly many more plant species
that have yet to be discovered. The climate is harsh, hot and dry, and
yet - the most amazing plant life thrives there.


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A
Dragon’s Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) is seen in front of the Skund
mountains on the island of Socotra, Yemen. The tree is so named because
any injury to the bark results in a deep red liquid excreting from the
scar – compared in the past to the "Blood of Dragons".