Dracaena ombet Heuglin ex Kotschy & Peyr.
D. rhabdophylla Chiov., D. schizantha Baker
Eng.: Nubian dragon tree. Spa.: Drago nubio. Fre.: Dragonnier de Nubie. Ara.: Ombet, ombeit.
Evergreen tree, hermaphrodite, up to 8(9) m in height, umbrella-shaped in old specimens. Trunk straight, with 3-5 branches on its end divided dichotomously 5(-6) times. Branches slightly thick, bearing the scars of the leaves, that form dense fascicles at the end of the last branch divisions. Leaves up to 60 × 3 cm, erect, linear, glaucous, slightly thick, upper side slightly canaliculate and convex underside, margins smooth, widened clasping base, dark purple in colour, and apex gradually tapered into an acute, thick and rigid tip. Inflorescence paniculate, up to 50 cm long, highly branched, with very small bracts, ovate-lanceolate. Flowers pedicellate, with fused tepals at the base to form a short campanulate tube, and lobes of 4-6 mm, linear, whitish. Stamens somewhat shorter than the perianth, with a flat filament. Fruit a berry 1-1.5 cm in diameter, yellowish.
Flowering:
The periods of flowering and fruiting of this species are highly variable. Flowering is basically during winter, but can continue onto spring and even summer.
Fruiting:
Dependant on the time of Flowering.
Habitat:
Scree slopes and granite outcrops, E and NE facing, between 450 and 1,450 m above sea level, in desert areas.
Distribution:
NE Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia) and W of the Arabian Peninsula. In North Africa is a very rare species, since its distribution is restricted to the mountainous areas of Jebel Elba. It was also found in the North of Sudan, in the region of Erowit, where it seems to have become extinct, according to El Azzouni (2003) and Kamel et al. (2014).
Observations:
D. ombet includes 2 subspecies: the type subsp., occupying the area indicated for the species, and subsp. schizantha (Baker) Bos., usually treated as a distinct species, which is highly localised in the centre of Ethiopia and north of Somalia.
Conservation status:
This is a clearly threatened species, due to increasing desertification of the areas where it is distributed, at least in Egypt, since its survival depends only on the occasional rain, and on the water condensation of clouds formed in the Red Sea and pushed by the wind from the coast to the top of the mountains. The populations of the higher levels of the Jebel Elba have already disappeared. In addition, its leaves were locally used to make ropes, its reddish resin was used in folk medicine, and its fruits, edible, both for human consumption and to add to camel feed. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is listed at a global level as Endangered (EN) (World Conservation Monitoring Center, 1998). In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000) it is listed as “Endangered”.