Dragon Tree in confusion

by Margot van den Berg

Imagine you are in the Azores on the island of Pico. And after a beautiful tour of the volcanic island, you arrive at a special vineyard in the afternoon. Special because the grapes grow low to the ground between walls made of lava rock. This way, they don't suffer from the wind and do get enough sun.
You walk around among the vineyards, stroll to an authentic windmill and when you've seen everything you sit down against a tree in the yard. It is not just any tree it is a dragon's blood tree, a Dracaena draco.

You might immediately think of the Dracaena we have as a houseplant, but it is not. That one looks friendly, the dragon tree on the Azores is a tough tree. With sinuous branches that spread out and only have leaves at the end of the branch. Sturdy leaves in a rosette, each leaf ending in a true point. Together, the branches and leaf rosettes form a kind of umbrella. And under that umbrella, that's where I was.

And the moment I looked up, the world spun. The tree was upside down. Alienating. With the trunk by your head and the leaf crowns continuing down to your feet. I could turn the photo 180 degrees, which looks nicer. But then you would no longer be under the umbrella of this particular tree. So I'll leave it as is, so that hopefully you too will be a little confused.