by Shane Sody

One of the most-loved trees in your Adelaide Park Lands has died, after less than a third of what is regarded as a normal 400-year lifespan for the species.

This Dragon Blood tree (Dracaena draco) stood next to historic red brick old racecourse buildings in the northern part of Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16).

Planted in 1903, this Dragon Blood tree appeared to be thriving as recently as 2019, but in recent years it had been in decline.

The Dragon Blood tree is a sub-tropical species, native to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Madeira, and Morocco. A related species (Dracaena cinnabari), is found on the island of Socotra off the horn of Africa in the Arabian sea, where it is endangered.

City of Adelaide head of horticuture, Matt Jorgensen told Sonya Feldhoff, on 891 ABC Adelaide, that the cause of death was not clear:

“We think it’s age-related” Mr Jorgensen began. However, he added:

“This area used to be a racecourse there's been a lot of construction and building and events in the space and so it's not as settled and quiet as some other locations.”

“If we remove the tree we might have a better understanding if we have a dig around under the soil but there’s no sign of too many borers or insects.”

However its death might remain a mystery: “We are considering just leaving it here for habitat.”

Camilla Smolicz runs the adjacent cafe, “Kiosk Lola”. She told us she was “so upset” about the loss of the tree, describing it as a “tragedy.”.

Although the Dragon Blood tree is an uncommon species in Australia, there is a long row of them on the western side of Government House alongside King William Road in Park 12.

The author of this article, Shane Sody, is the President of the Adelaide Park Lands Association and the editor of the semi-monthly newsletter, "Open Green Public".

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