Loss of an Iconic Ft Lauderdale Dragon Tree

[bubba]

Other items for scale. The football helmet is approximately 3 inches across (I have a small head) but the golf ball is legal American:

[bubba]

The replica golf hole is none other than the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.

[XYZ]

Bubba:

Thanks so much for the effort. I'm not an expert, but the leaf morphology does match my two cinnabari quite well (other than color)...longest leaves on juveniles here measure 13" x 5/8", so the proportionate metrics match as well. 

Amazing find! At the bare minimum, the arborist should be air layering individual stems to have multiple backups of this wonderful example of horticultural heritage for the city of Fort Lauderdale.

Jay

[fastfeat]

FWIW, I reached out to several very knowledgeable folks in CA regarding vegetative propagation of D. draco. Randy Baldwin of San Marcos Growers in Santa Barbara shared some pics of a planting that appears to be of large cuttings that have successfully rooted. He's trying to gain some more info from the property owner. When I get some more info and permission to use photos, I will (hopefully) post accordingly.

[fastfeat]

Some additional info from IUCN and SMG:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/30394/1

http://www.smgrowers.com/info/growthofdracaenadracodragonsbl1974.pdf

[Eric in Orlando]

There is a largeo Dracaena draco at Fairchild. Maybe they could help the city of FLD out?

 

 

[bubba]

It seems impossible that the specimen at Granada Road adjacent to the Intracoastal in WPB could be a D. cinnibari but my research and information from Jay seems to confirm. If the "impossible to reach Fort Lauderdale arborist" ever makes contact,I will discuss with him the basis for the conclusion that the FTL specimen is also a D.Cinnibari. If I do not hear from this guy, I will circumvent and make contact with whoever is supervisor to find party with authority to allow our attempt to remove,transplant and treat the FTL specimen to be given adequate consideration.

I would like to thank Jerry, Jay, Florida Grower, KJ (Ken Johnson), Ken (fastfeet), Eric and all others who commented (Missi, Cindy,  Gonzer, Jubaea and Dave) and all who read this with an interest to assist with this potential mission. If you have not commented, please feel free to reach out. I will continue to make all efforts to wake up FTL!

[XYZ]

This is an old photo since I haven't gotten around to shooting images of my D. cinnabari of late, but just so people can understand what Bubba is referring to when he speaks to the similarity of the leaves on this specimen and a Spanish Dagger (Yucca aloifolia and others). Nine inch pot for scale.

Unlike the draco that I am familiar with, the leaves on cinnabari are stiff-brittle.

Again, best of luck salvaging this iconic tree, whatever it is. I can imagine the city council in FTL is composed of personal injury lawyers, real estate developers, community bankers and strip club owners - all with an aesthetic sensibility that would make a New Jersey mob boss's wife envious - so you folks may have your work cut out for you.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Here are photos of the D. cinnabari and D. draco we have growing at Leu Gardens and both leaves side by side. The D. cinnabari seems to have thinner leaves than D. draco. Both were grown from seed. The D. draco planted in 2008 and D. cinnabari in 2012. The D. cinnabari looks more lax as it was getting shaded. It was moved a few months ago into a sunnier spot.

[XYZ]

Yes, your cinnabari is crazy etiolated and not at all representative of the species. Beside the wild Socotran trees, there are images online of plants in a BG near Honolulu, HI, a private garden in Montecito, the Huntington and a commercial nursery in San Diego county, CA that show what larger, unbranched sun-grown plants should look like in cultivation. The one shown above looks like a rather unhappy ponytail (Beaucarnea spp.).

Notwithstanding the previous exchanges, the fact that you can grow one at all is rather noteworthy. I would give it the brightest, best drained spot you folks can spare.

One thing I have learned from this post is how plastic draco is from region to region.

[Eric in Orlando]

It was growing in sun but a nearby Bauhinia x blakeana and Kigelia africana have rapidly grown and had started shading it. It is now in an open, well drained sunny spot. It should be happier now!

 

 

[Eric in Orlando]

On 8/19/2017, 2:46:22, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

Has anyone rooted large cuttings of these?

 

I have never rooted D. draco cutting but have rooted D. arborea. They root very easily, either in a pot with a good well drained soil or just straight into the ground.

 

[XYZ]

I have rooted the commercial dracaenas as well as pieces from venerable wild rainforest D americana...all no-brainers. Again, people who claim that these larger landscape spp can't be established from large truncheons probably have never even tried or explored the option, as is evidenced by several informed posts on this thread that indicate it's been/being done.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

From the City Arborist:

 

Gerald,

 

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to me with your tree related concern. Currently the City is still weighing all the available options regarding the Dragon Blood tree and a final formal decision has not yet been made. I will forward on your suggestions accordingly and will let you know once a formal decision has been reached. Have a great day and do not hesitate to contact me should you have any additional questions or concerns.

 

Regards….

Mark Williams, Urban Forester  

[Gonzer]

I would deem that letter a wee bit more professional if the arborist had not used a common name regarding the Dracaena. Also, that's a boiler-plate letter that's basically telling you to take a hike, we'll handle this. I know because my supervisor at my old city job use to send those out like all the time.

[bubba]

Jerry,

I got the same letter after I sent him two emails and left messages with him twice. I thanked him and asked that he keep us updated. We shall see.

[XYZ]

"Urban Forester"?

Pretentiousness invades every nook and cranny of both American civil service and the private sector. This sounds so much more sexy than tree or turf doctor.

His LinkedIn profile suggests he should be more than capable of dealing with this in a satisfactory manner. Although 15 years in the public sector might have made him rusty...

I agree with Gonz that this looks suspiciously like a template kiss off.

Like I said, good luck with "the City" (cue ominous rumble in the distance).

[bubba]

We are in Cape Verde (Aug15-Sept15) season when the innocuous thunderstorms that roll off the African coast turn into the murderous ICBM's that hit South Florida (See 1926, 1928, 1935, 1947 and Andrew 1992). Bureaucratic shuffling has likely begun in FTL. Special interests suffocate any attempt at logic or common sense in FTL similar to most City government these days. The light at the end of the tunnel may well be a nuclear locomotive.

[XYZ]

Excellent point, Bubba. Everyone in the neighborhood may want to have a machete/pruning saw and a jar of Clonex handy if it blows over and is fragmented prior to "the City" getting around to composting it.

J

[fastfeat]

Some more info from Randy Baldwin at San Marcos Growers, regarding the rooting of large D. draco cuttings between Ventura and Santa Barbara:

"(DR) got back to me that he would try to find out more about those Taylor Ranch dragon trees but he knows that (TB) at the Rincon del Mar Ranch (between Ventura and Santa Barbara) rooted stems 6-8" or more in diameter that were 6-8' tall and multi-branched. He put the smallest ones in 15 gallon pots against a wall for support and larger ones in boxes in a light porous cactus mix under light filtered shade. Said it took a year or more to root but had a high % take.  (DR) said that he also rooted some himself that were about 4" diameter in 15 gallon pots with the stem buried the full depth of the container for lateral support. "Patience and not peeking are key cultural factors in success."

He suggests that they definitely try to root the stems of that Ft. Lauderdale tree. I will have to try this myself next time I hear about one being taken down."

[fastfeat]

On 8/24/2017, 9:15:11, Jerry@TreeZoo said:

Here is an interesting article on dracos re-rooting from aerial roots.  It is quite long and I only read a bit of it.

 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00468-014-0987-0#Fig2

 

 

Very interesting. Thanks.

[Florida Grower]

This is my largest  Draceana cinnabari. Of course I didn't collect the seed in habitat so I can only trust it's accurately named until I know better. 

[XYZ]

Ken:

Great feedback from the guys at SMG. Thanks very much for following up on this. If nothing else, everyone here has been disabused of the notion that D draco Can only be propagated from seed. Jerry's link to the paper on potential for air-layering stems is also an excellent resource.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

An update.

I had some business not too far from downtown so I thought I would visit this tree again and see how it fared the hurricane.  Pretty well it seems.  So much for being unstable.

You can see the damage from the broken branch and can see the rot in the roots.

Some decay in the branches.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I guess I missed this obscene looking aerial root growing when I last visited.  Is it possible that it grew since then? (Notice the sleeping homeless guy just above the orange cone.)

Oops!  There it is on the lower right hand side of the trunk.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

A multiple leaf spear that was knocked off during the hurricane.

An individual leaf.

[MattyNativeSeed]

Sad   I have driven past that tree numerous times, but I had never known how rare they are in these conditions, or how iconic that one was.

I am always in fear of fungal infections.  My soil has SO much fungus in it.  If i stake my trees with mediocre quality wood, the stakes turn to powder in like three months, overwhelmed with mycelial mats.  It's making me try to not get really attached to any of my trees for fear of their impending mortality.  I've spotted such fatal fungi as ganoderma, armillaria.  Plenty of 'red cage' too, although I don't think those go after anything live, and plenty others that I haven't ID'ed yet.  

[Palmarum]

It would be great if they can save as much as they can. I had spent numerous times as a kid staring at the tree during many trips to the City of Ft. Lauderdale building, as my dad worked there for years. There are countless botanical treasures hidden around S. Florida. I am constantly surprised as to what people show me in their collections, leading to many exclamations... "How does that even grow here?!"

Ryan

[LJG]

Bubba, sorry I missed this post until now. It is hard to tell from the pics, but the leaves scream Draco. Cinnabari has a very distinct leaf from Draco. Just look along the back side of the leaf and you should see a large ridge running down the back. Draco has a smooth leaf, top and bottom. Draco is also more pliable, Cinnabari very stiff. 

Here in SoCal, many plants going around as Cinnabari were mislabeled and are Draco. True Cinnabari is hard to find (although small plants available from few places online now).

As far as moving it, they dig great and don't require a large rootball. I moved one twice that size 12 years ago from a house that the original owner planted it in early 50s. I transplanted into my yard. Limbs snap easy, so wrap each limb with carpet, attach 2x2 or 2x4s to help brace limbs with duct tape. Transplant prep is most time consuming part of moving a large Draco. 

As far as stem cuttings, I have taken many. My neighbor has a Draco now 6 foot tall from a rooted stem I gave him a long time ago. Cut it, dry it, put into an airy mix. Within few months roots will develop. Dracos are aggressive rooters by the way. One word of caution, stem cuttings branch very early (as shown above in someone's photo). This sucks because you will have a low growing Draco bush instead a single trunk specimen you can walk under like the Draco in the subject of this post. 

[LJG]

I got some pics to help on ID. Both close ups show the ridge on back of leaf for Cinnabari. Draco won't have it. First pic is my Draco I moved. It is huge. 

[XYZ]

Am pleasantle surprised to see that this tree survived, apparently lightly-scathed, Irma's wrath. From Jerry's excellent photos, it looks like it is perfectly salvageable but may need to be selectively pruned and braced (not to mention have the rot aggressively excised from its interior once the rainy season ends) to keep it from falling over.

Still unsure whether or not this is D. draco, since not obvious from afar, As Len mentions, and is evident in the photo of my young plant above, in D. cinnabari the abaxial surface of the leaf should be sharply keeled, the leaf relatively rigid and somewhat rough to the touch. The fallen leaf shown does look both stiff and narrowly-laceolate/acicular...

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I should have thought to take a photo of the back of the leaf,

 

As you can see from this photo of the spear leaves, it does not look like there is a keel to the leaf.  Being "stiff" is a relative thing but to compare the leaves to yucca, the leaf felt more like Y. elephatipes than Y. aloifolia.

[bubba]

I travelled back to the Dragon Tree that I photographed and posted on this thread. After reviewing the underside of the leaf as suggested by Len, There is no question that the underside of the leaf did not demonstrate the ridge that signifies Dracaena cinnabari. I can only conclude that the specimen I pictured was a Dracaena draco. Still a cool tree!

[fastfeat]

Amazingly, despite extensive decay of the root crown of this tree, it withstood Irma! I visited tthe other day, fully expecting to see it collapsed...

[Eric in Orlando]

So any updates on the Ft. Lauderdale Dracaena draco?

 

[Eric in Orlando]

Also, on Saturday I was in West Palm Beach. I went by to see the specimen at Granada and Flager. It is gone. The whole lot has been cleared and house removed. Did this specimen get saved?

[bubba]

Eric,

Noticed the loss and tear down after it happened. D.draco gone and the way these people treat trees and anything else that gets in the way, it likely turned to rubbish. Next door to the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, where they would have certainly taken it if offered.Sad stupidity. I hope the Ft. Lauderdale specimen survived. Best, bubba