Dragon Trees

Dragon Trees-

Good Evening my dearest friends and followers, I thought since I have the blog fixed I should be able to post again. And for my first one after my horrible brush with almost losing my blog I though I would tell you about this most interesting tree that I found about a week ago. Its called the 'Dragon Tree of Scotra'. I never new that there was a tree even called 'Dragon Tree'. So when I saw this I just had to share with you all. It isn't you typical Tree & its only known to be on the island of Socotra in the country of Yemen where it lives within its remnants of prehistoric called 'Dragonsblood' forest on the granite mountains and limestone plateaus. This special Dragon Tree has a long historical background to it too!
First a bit of history of the island and the Dragon Trees'! The island of Socotra' is at least 34-million-years old+ which is separate from the mainland of the Arabia which has given rise to a unique flora - which is 37% of its plants species that are found nowhere else in the world. This is one of the good points, that the Dragon Tree is protected by a island that is separated from the world. However, there are problems to that too! Even with the wonderful environment that the monsoon season brings to the area of clouds, drizzle and sea mists, the dragon tree's leaves intercept this airborne moisture by channeling it towards the root systems and then shade themselves by a dense, umbrella shaped canopy.

These amazing Dragon Tree's do look strange, their like some kinda ancient age species plant form that has adapted to our modern environment. It is remarkable that these trees have been able to survive and adapted to this modern environment, even as ancient and strange as they are. This remarkable tree's have been economically important for centuries. The Local people that live on the island value the place in which they live with the Dragon Tree's. Besides the Trees- it has food for their livestock; feeding very small quantities of berries to feed the cows and goats to improve their health, however the goats can cause sickness in excess.

The Dragon Tree is perhaps best known for the red resin it is name after. What this means to the Socotris on the island is 'Emzoloh'. It has a large range of traditional medicinal uses.
It is referred to by the ancients as 'Cinnabar' it was well known in trade before 60AD; and the dye
'of 'DRAGONS BLOOD' is though to have been responsible for the intense colour of Stradivarius Violins.
Even with all its wonderful properties the one thing that is uncertain with the Dragon Tree's future is-the most significant problem of all and that is CLIMATE CHANGE!. YOU SEE SOCOTRA IS DRYING OUT, WITH ONCE A RELIABLE MONSOON WEATHER BECOMING NOW A PATCHY A IRREGULAR ISLAND DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE!!!
Despite all of this, the future of these trees is uncertain due to Climate Change!
Few populations are regenerating naturally, and in some areas young trees lack the species characteristic umbrella shapes to protect themselves.
Each of these Dragon Tree's can expect to lose 45% of its potential habitat by the year 2080, and while, expanding the Skund Nature Sancturary they still could protect two protect refuge arears, this level of conservation work will not save the species.

Unless we take major steps to mitigate climate change very soon, the future of the Socotra's iconic and ancient Dragon Tree's along with countless other species around the world - it is very much in doubt we will see these amazing Dragon Trees in the future.

And the Medicinal uses/other uses of the sap of the Dragon trees. Such as the intense color of the Stradivarius Violins and Traditional meds.
The dragon Tree has been known mostly for its sap which is called the blood of the tree' Dragon Blood' which is very well known and is distinctive to the plant of the island of Socotra. On this island, these unique and very strange appearing trees can be described as upturned, densely packed crowned trees having the shape of an upright held umbrella'. They are basically evergreen species in name after its dark red resin, which is known as 'DRAGON BLOOD'.

Unlike most monocot plants, the Dracaenaceae is display as a secondary growth 'called Cinnabari' even has growth zones resembling tree rings found in dicot tree species. Along with other arborescent Dracaena species it has a distinctive growth habitat called 'Dracoid Habitus'
The leaves of these amazing trees are found only at the end of its youngest branches; its leaves are all shed every 3-4years before new leaves simultaneously mature. Branching tends to occur when the growth of the terminal bud stops due to either flowering of the tree or traumatic events stop it from doing so. Sadly this is happing all over the island of SOCOTRA.

What is happening is its fruits are very small fleshy berries containing only between 1 to 3 seeds. Plus as they develop they trun from green to black and then become orange once they are ripe to eat. The berries are then eaten by the island birds-Onychognatus species and thereby dispersed. The seeds are only 4 to 5 mm in diameter and weigh on average 68 mg. The berries exude a deep red resin, known as dragon blood.
These Palms of the Dragon trees grows from the tip of the stem with the long stiff leaves borne in dense rosettes at the end. It will then branch off to maturity to produce an umbrella shape crown with leaves that measure up to what looks like the usual dragon tree producing flowers around February through flowering does vary with each location on the island. These flowers tend to grow at the end of the branches of the tree, they have a inflorescences and they bear small clusters of fragrant white or even green flowers. The fruit takes about five months to mature. And when it does it has a interesting look you might say...It changes from a green to black as it gradually ripens. The fleshy berry fruit ends up being an orange-red color that contains one to three seeds. The berries are usually eaten and dispersed by the birds and other animals on the island.

As for the unusual shape of the dragon's blood tree, its adaptation for is survial in such arid conditions and low amounts of soil is quite amazing - could be the reason it is called the Dragon Tree. The tree was first called 'Pterocarpus draco, however in 1880 the Scottish botanist made a formal description of the species and renamed the tree to 'Dracaena Cinnabari. It would seem over 60 and 100 Dracaena species have been created from the Cinnabari tree is one of only 6 species which grow as a tree.



Sadly the Dragon Tree is considered a remnant of the subtropical forests that are now almost extinct due to the extensive desertification of North Africa-As in mountaintops. The large, packed crown provides shade and reduces evaporation. The shade also aid in the survival of seedlings

growing beneath...
The lone Dragon Tree is what is becoming of  the island of SOCOTRA. You see although most of its ecological habitats are still intact, the problem that is killing the ancient trees is the increasing population with the industrial and tourism development. but isn't that always the case when humanity finds something beautiful and ancient they want it for themselves and in the end they destroy it!!!
Hence putting more pressure on the vegetation through the process of logging, overgrazing, woodcutting and infrastructure is just some of the human touch that is killing the ancient island. Though the Dragon 's blood from the trees is highly widespread in need so say, it has become just a fragmented due to the development that concerns its habitats. Most of the folks that do live there or that populate the island are suffering are due to poor regenerations. Human activities have greatly reduced the deeply religious belief in the dragon blood in the trees for the people who have live there for centuries.

The Human activities have greatly reduced the dragon's blood population through overgrazing it, plus the over feeding the flowers and fruits to the livestock of the island. One of the species greatest threats is the gradual drying out of the Socotra Archipelago, which has been an ongoing process for the last few hundred years.
This has resulted in non flourishing of any trees in large amounts as you could see in the early images. The duration of the mist and cloud cover around the area seems to decreasing for some reason too.
Sadly if this continues with this type of new environment it is predicted to cause a 45% reduction in the most available habitat for all time. And it could be all gone by the year 2080 or even early....What you are seeing is another result to climate change which is happening around the world .. Yes it is truly happening.. I hope we will believe it is before its is truly too late.😕
There are other threats to the dragon's blood tree include the harvesting of its resin and the uses of the leaves too make rope...

This is what it look like

before BEAUTIFUL!

Presently some of the Dragon Tree have been used to make beehives. This was generally prohibited, this displays haw the species may be threatened by a breakdown in the traditional practises of the island. Lastly the best preserved and largest stand of is the limestone plateau named Rokeb di Firmihin. Which is approximately [540 hectares] 1,3000 acres forest has numerous of rare and endemic species. Research shows that in coming decades the number of trees in the forest will decrease due to the lack of natural regeneration. In my opinion this doesn't mean just because the trees are decreasing because of water. It seems to me that they are just waiting to get their hands on the limestone too. Its like they can't leave nature alone. As for the local inhabitants in the city of Socotra they have used the dragon blood resin for centuries for a cure-all. They use it in general wound healing, as a coagulant, cure for diarrhea, for dysentery diseases, for lowering fever. Also it is used for ulcers in the mouth, throat intestines and stomach.

I hope that this small island and the people and the ancient Dragon Trees will not disappear like so many cultures and beautiful natural beauty's of the world. I hope that is was informative and interesting for you all. I was able to finally fix my blog and my blogger post, layout. It took me from Friday to today Tuesday. From manally delete the one image that I believe had a vires tag on it. With no help from the google corp.. But I do thank you all for you very kind comments that you all wrote and you support as you have always been there for me. I wanted to get my blog fixed as soon as possible so that I could get going on new posts for you all . Because I love you all very much Your friend always ...Wendy

Sphinx

Sphinx-

Good morning my dearest friends and followers. Today I am going to bring you all into the world of  ancient times of the Mythology creature of the Sphinx in Greece. The Sphinx was one of the
the most famous Mythological Creatures of its times both in Egyptian Mythology & Greek Mythology. However, unlike that of the Greek Sphinx which is an female Creature. In the Egyptian Sphinx is typically a male creature. In Greece the sphinx has a lions body and a females head. In tradition they are launched as a lion with the wings of a very large bird and the face and the breasts of a woman. She is mythicized as treacherous and merciless. It is said that those who cannot answer her riddles will suffer a fate typical in the evil monster type dragons who love riddles too-in those tales if you don't answer the riddle correctly the dragon will kill and eat you. Apparently just like that of the mythicized female Sphinx too if you don't answer her riddles you could have the same faith by being killed, eaten by a changed ravenous monster. Some have said that the Sphinx is to have guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes of Greece. Which anyone to enter the city would have to ask a riddle to obtain passage. As to the exact riddle the Sphinx would ask, it was never the same or not ever specified. So this could be one of the reason the Sphinx got more of a reputation of being a ravenous monster.

Another mythology lore was that Hera or Ares, who sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland-Even though the Greeks always remembered the origin of the Sphinx to be Thebes in Greece to have Sophocles to write this in his writings & history's most famous riddle of the Sphinx too:
'Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?'
The Sphinx would strangled and devoured anyone who was unable to answer: Oedipus solved the riddle by answering-'Man-who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age'...
However, the tale doesn't end with answering the hardest riddle. Upon Oedipus solving the riddle the Sphinx threw herself from her high rock and died. I guess the mythology creature couldn't live with the fact that a human or god had solve her most unsolved able riddle. There were other version to the tale which in my own opoion is hard to believe that a great mythology beast would do-that is 'Devouring herself. Maybe it was another way of death.

The Sphinx was an ancient Egyptian divinity, who personified wisdom, fertility and nature. She is also represented as a lion-body, with the head and bust of a woman. It wears a peculiar sort of hood which completely envelops her head and falls down on either side of her face.
The Sphinx is represented according to the Greek genealogy as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The Goddess Hera upon one occasion displeased with the Thebans, sent them the Sphinx this awful monster as a punishment for their offences. So later the Sphinx took her seat on a rocky eminence near the city of Thebes, commanding a pass which the Thebans were compelled to traverse in their usual way of business, she propounded to all comers a riddle and if they failed to solve it, she tore them in pieces. During the reign of the King Creon, so many people had fallen a sacrifice to the monster Sphinx, that the King Creon determined to use every effort to rid
the country of this beast. So on consulting the oracle of Delphi, the King Creon, he was informed that the only way to destroy the Sphinx was to solve one of her riddles. If this happens she would immediately precipitate herself from the high rocks on which she was seated to her death. So King Creon made a public declaration to take effect that whoever could give the true interpretation of a riddle propounded by the monster, should obtain the crown and the land of his sister- Jocaste. So as the tale goes, Oedipus offered himself as a candidate for the task.
Oedipus proceeded to the spot where the Sphinx kept guard, to receive her riddle-but of course Oedipus new that answer' . The Sphinx said, 'What creature goes in the morning on four legs, at noon on two and in the evening on three?" Oedipus replied, That it must be man, who during his infancy creeps on all fours, in his prime walks erect on two legs, and when old age has enfeebled his powers calls a staff to his assistance and thus has as it were three legs.'
The moment that Oedipus finished his answer the Sphinx no sooner heard his reply, which was correct, after that she flung herself over the precipice and perished in the abyss below.

I hope you all find the post interesting my dear friends and followers. Your friend always Wendy

 

The Lung Dragon

-The Lung Dragon-

Good afternoon my dearest friends & followers. Welcome to my humble blog. I am going to bring you into the world of the Lung Dragon of China. I found the tale of the lung dragon very fascinating so I hope that you do too, my dears. I also find the dragons of china so interesting because they have been around so long ago. 

The Lung dragon of China lives in the sky during the summer and hibernates in the deepest lakes during the winter. It has the likeness of nine other beasts, so the Lung Dragon is an enormous. His appearance of these nine other beasts were the head of a camel, antlers of a deer, ears of a bull, throat of a huge snake, paws of a tiger & finally the claws of an eagle. As for the scales of the Lung Dragon well, they are very different than your average dragon. You see they have scales of a Carp, not your usual shimming scales. The carp scales number up to eighty-one, this being nine which is the number of a dragon multiplied by itself & hence the luckiest of numbers. Under the lung dragons throat the scales are reversed & beneath its chin there is bright pearl scales. These are the most fortunate of gems because its the source of the dragons power. These pearl scales has the power & charm of multiplying anything that they come in  contact with. So it anyone was to find one of the Lung Dragons pearl scales it would be like finding the lotto in ancient times. Why? you might ask... Its, because if they place the pearl scale into anything like that of a purse of gold, the purse will be overflowing the next day. Another example would be, if you were in need of food for you family. Just place the pearl scale in a empty sack of rice the same thing will happen as the purse. The voice of the Lung Dragon is an beautiful mix of chiming of a gong. Some said, that the lung dragon was deaf & the meaning behind his name was so. However, it has not been found or proven to this day. It is true that the lung dragon had no ears but it would gather sounds through its two horns(of an deer/horns). On each side of its mouth are whiskers & on top of his head too. It is said that since the lung dragon has the Poh Shan, the wooden foot-the rule without which he can fly into Heaven. When its breath escapes it forms the clouds in the sky, which sometime become rain & then changing into fire when the dragon breath meets the dampness it becomes bright... When the lung dragon meets the water it becomes flame-This dragon flame can be extinguished by ordinary fire. The dragon is fond of roasted swallows for their food, however swallows which are offered in sacrifices when it rain is needed. These Dragons are also fond of arsenic too! The lung dragon also, fears the large Centipede leaves of the lien tree-Melia Azedarach, the Blue-Flowered Bead or China berry Tree & Chinaberry Tree & Silk thread dyed with the five sacred colours. Lastly the lung dragon is also afraid of iron because it said that just one iron needle or lance will kill the dragon.

So, my dears I hope that you enjoyed this tale of the Lung dragon of China.. I found it to be interesting and fun.

I hope you all have a fantastic day

Love you all my dears

WENDY

ETHIOPIAN DRAGONS-

Ethiopian Dragons-

Today I have a post for you all 'Love for the Dragon'. It gets harder now to find the many different kinda dragons now because I have done so many of them over the course of the 3years that I have had this blog. I hope you all find this Dragon just as grand as the others as 'My Love for the Dragon'.
The Land of -Aithiopia-Ethiopia was a place where the Gods bathe, celebrated by Homer under the name of Oceanus, which is an excellent and desirable neighbor of that land....It is said, the mother of the very largest of the Drakones-Dragons,Serpents-they attain to a length of one hundred and eighty feet, and they are not called by the name of any species, but
the people at the time say that they would kill their elephants, and these Drakones rival the longest-lived animals. Thus far this is some of the accounts of the Ethiopia Dragon from Aithiopia-Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Dragon was both feared by man/humans and big game. They were described as being extremely enormous in size. Some have said they can get up to 20 cubits in length which is approximately 35+ feet long. They can have either one or two pairs of wings. Ethiopian Dragon were Medieval European legends according to ancient tales. They were also very efficient at their predatory hunting skills. These Beasts who main prey was elephants, were  abundant at the time.

However, as these Dragons life on the Ethiopian coastline and the Elephants would only come around the area of the coast during the time of drought years-according to drought year records.
But when the coastal supply of elephants food was exhausted the dragons would search further afield for nourishment for yes their favorite food. Four of five of these Ethiopian dragons would search further afield for the nourishment of what elephants they could find. They would twist themselves together like a rope before setting off to Arabia. Another way these Ethiopian dragons would search for food when the elephants ran out is... Quite amazing really these vast creatures would entwined themselves together to form a living raft and set across the sea, to the Arabian shore opposite of where they were. These dragons felt they had a better chance of food across the sea to the Arabian shore for food. However, what these creatures didn't know that at that state they were in

before they were able to get to the elephant, whey were easy to be killed to get what is called

The Dracontias Stone...This Stone is actually in the brain of a living Ethiopian Dragon. They say that it is very magick stone and could make you home prosperous and bring health to all. However, it is very dangerous to get the stone as you must do this great prize as many folks in the day while the dragon is still alive. They say it was a huge prize for an alchemist and much sought for. But the only way the stone can be effective and hold its magical effects if it is taken while the beast is still alive. So they had many different methods at the time. The main one was to drug the beast with a specially prepared herbs that they would put in the grass to fool the dragon into eating. I don't know how many times it worked because they had to find a Ethiopian dragon first, then if they were successful in that and preparing the special herbs to put in the grass without the dragon seeing them, they might have a chance if the dragon eats the area of grass where they put the herb. Now, if they got this far, they should have a dead dragon and have the prize to cut out of his head -

THE DRACONTIA STONE

.

I HOPE THAT YOU ALL ENJOYED THE

ETHIOPIAN DRAGON MY DEARS

LOVE YOU ALL

YOUR FRIEND ALWAYS

WENDY

               

DRAGONS-2016

Dragons~

Albanian Dragons 
1-Dreq is the Dragon (draco) proper. It was demonized by the Christianity and now is one of the Albanian
names of the devil.
2-Kulshedra its twelfth year, the bolla evolves by growing nine tongues, horns, spines and large wings.
At this time it will learn how to use its formerly hidden fire-breathing abilites, and is not called a kulshedra or
a kucedra (hudra). The kucedra causes droughts and lives of human sacrifices. Kulshedras are
killed by Drangue, the Albanian winged warriors with their supernatureal powers.
Thunderstorms are conceived as battles beween the drangues and the kulshedras.
3-Bolla-In the Albanian Mythology Bolla which is also known as Bullar in South Albania, is a type
of Serpentic Dragon or Even a Demonic type Dragon-like Creature with a long coiled Serpentine body
Four legs and Small wings in Ancient Albanian Folklore. This dragon sleeps throughout the whole year,
only to awake on Saint George's Day - where its faceted  Silver eyes peer into the World.
The Bolla Dragon does this until he sees a human. Once he sees that human it will devour that human,
then close his silver eyes and sleeps again. The Bolla was worshiped as the deity Boa by the ancestors of
the Albanians, Illyrians. The Bolla also appears in the Coat of arms of the House of Bua Shpata.
Asturian & Leonese Dragons- In Asturias and Leon Mythology the Cuelebres were Giant Winged
Serpents which lived in caves where they would guard treasures and kidnapped Xanas. These type of
Serpent dragons can live for centuries and when they grow really old they use their wings to fly.
Their breath is poisonous and they often will kill cattle to eat.
Chuvash Dragons- These Dragons represent the Pre-Islamic Mythology of the same Region.
Romanian Dragons- These Dragons are called Balaur which are very similar to the Slavic - a very large,
with fins and have multple heads.
Siberian Dragons- These Dragons are related to the European Turkic and Slavic Dragons
Armenian Dragons- Are Related to the European Dragons
Slavic Dragons- These Dragons are very Similar to the conventional European Dragon, but they have
multi-headed. They breathe fire and or leave fiery wakes as they fly. In Slavic and related traditons, dragons
Symbolize Evil. Specific dragons are often given Turkic names, symbolizing the long-standing conflict
between the Slavs and Turks. However, in Serbian and Bulgarian folklore, dragons are defenders of the
crops in their homes regions, fighting against a destructive demon Ala whom they shoot with lighting.
Sarkany Dragons- These dragons are in a dragon human form. Most of them are Giants with multiple
heads. Their strength is held in their heads. They become gradually weaker as they lose their heads. In
contemporary Hungarian the word Sarkany is used to mean all kinds of dragons.
Zomok Dragons- This is a Giant winged snake like dragon, which is in fackt a full-grown zomok. It often 
serves as flying mount of the garaboncias a kinda magician. The Sarkanykigyo rules over storms and bad 
weather.
The Worm Hill Dragon- In 700AD the Anglo-Saxons Settled and called it 'Wruenele'this translates as
the Wruen worm reptile or Dragon. According to the local folklore the hill at the Knotlow was the lair of a 
dragon and the terraces around it was made by his coils of his tail. Knotlow is an ancient Volcanic vent 
and may explain the myth.
Welsh Dragons- In the Welsh Mythology after a long battle which the Welsh King Vortigern witnesses - 
a Red Dragon defeats a White Dragon: Merlin Esplains to Vortigern that the Red Dragon symbolizes the 
Welsh and the White Dragon Symbolizes the Saxons -thus Foretelling the ultimate defeat of the English by the Welsh.
Scandinavian & Germanic Dragons- Lindworms are serpent-like dragons with either two or no legs.
In Nordic and Germanic Heraldry, the Lindworm looks the same as a Wyvern dragon. The Dragon Fafnir
was a Lindworm.
 Sardinian Dragons- These dragons are named 'scultone' or Ascultone' and will appear in legends in 
Sardinia Italy. They had the power to kill a human with its gaze eyes/ Its much like that of a basilisk they live
in the bush and are immortal.
Catalan Dragon- These Dragons are Serpant like creatures with two legs (rarely four) and sometimes have
a pair of wings. Their faces can resemble that of other animals like that of lions or even cattle. They have a 
burning breathe too. And their breath is also poisonous, the reason by which dracs are able to rot everything with their stench. A vibria is a female dragon.

.¸Ɨ HOPE IT ŴƗŁŁ β€ ŞỮŘ€ ŦØ Ř€ΔĆĦ ¥ØỮ
`•.¸ŦĦØỮǤĦ ¥ØỮ'Ř€ ALL ARE ₣ΔŘ ΔŴΔ¥
•´☆ ŦĦƗŞ ŞР€ĆƗΔŁ HUG FULL

OF LOVE & JOY IS FROM YOUR WENDY
¸¸.☆♥(◡‿◡)♥✫¨´`'*°☆.❥•♪♫♥.(: ♥(◡‿◡)♥i❤*☆҉♡☆❤❤❤♪♫♪❤❤♪❤*☆҉♡☆❤❤❤♪♫♪❤❤♪❤❤♪♫♪❤❤♪❤❤♪
♫♪❤❤❤❤♪♫♪❤❤♪❤❤♪♫♪❤◄*☆*°‧°﹒☆҉☆¸ \( °‿°)/ ☆҉☆¸.✿¸¸.•´¨¯`'•⋆❥⋆❀´¸ ✿ღڪےღڰۣ✿✿ღڪےღڰۣ✿✿ღڪےღڰۣ✿✿ღڪے❤
`"(✿◠‿◠)˙•٠•●Celibate life♥´Magic Surrounds Us ☆҉☆ƸӜƷ ♪♫♪♫♪❤❤
ƸӜƷ•.¸¸.•´ ... ☾ ❤❤☼ღ(◕‿◕｡) ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ƸӜƷ•❤❤❤☼ღ(◕‿◕｡)¸.•*""*•.¸ƸӜƷ•.¸¸.•

I AM SO HAPPY YOU HAVE COME TO VISIT MY BLOG❤

I HOPE THAT I CAN MAKE YOU DAY FULL OF MAGICK

AND DREAMS FOR JUST THE BREIF TIME YOU ARE HEAR IN

MY WORLD OF MAGIC AND ENCHANTMENT/ LOVEYOU ALL MY

DEAR FREINDS AND FOLLOWERS. YOUR WENDY:O)

ƸӜƷ•.¸¸.•´ ... (◕‿◕｡)¸.•*""*•.¸

"(✿◠‿◠)˙•٠•●c