Tenerife has a very characteristic landscape, fauna and flora. It is here where we find a very peculiar tree that can only be found on this island, Cape Verde and some areas of Morocco: the Drago.
The origin of the dragon tree, according to Greek and Roman legends, is located in the Garden of the Hesperides. Don't you know the legend? Do not worry, we will tell you about it here.
Classical authors located the Jarín de las Hespérides in the Canary Islands. This place was where the Hesperides lived, the three daughters of Atlas, the mythical character condemned to support the earthly dome after being defeated by Zeus. The garden was guarded by Ladon, a dragon with a hundred heads that breathed fire through and never slept.
The Hesperides guarded a tree on which grew golden apples that provided immortality. One of the twelve labors entrusted to Hercules it was precisely the theft of these apples. To get them, Hercules convinced Atlas to steal them himself since it would be easier for him to trick the dragon into entering, while he promised to hold the terrestrial dome that Atlas was condemned to hold.
Atlas accepted and stole the golden apples after killing the dragon that, confidently, had opened the gates of that paradise for him. Although Atlas's intention was to flee and leave Hercules forever carrying the earthly dome, Hercules finally managed to deceive him and return him to his place.
As punishment for the theft, the Hesperides were turned into trees (willow, poplar, and elm). The golden apples were returned to the garden, and Zeus put the dragon in the sky as a constellation
Legend has it that the drops of blood shed by Ladon, the dragon, when they reached the ground each turned into dragon trees, whose branches resemble the hundred heads of the dragon and whose trunk gives off a red sage or resin , called dragon's blood, which is currently still used for healing purposes.
The best-known dragon tree in Tenerife is the Millennial Dragon Tree of Icod de los Vinos, which can currently be visited.