Preliminary aspects of the anatomy and genetic variability of Dracaena cinnabari Balf. Fil.: a threatened endemic species of Socotra Island, south Yemen.

This work is intended to be a _rst step in studying the anatomy of Dracaena cinnabari and its genetic variability. Dracaena cinnabari, which belongs to the dragon tree group, is a threatened endemic species of Socotra Island. The species most closely related to it is Dracaena draco of the Canary Islands. A study of the anatomy of the two species has revealed the considerable presence of waxes on the leaf lamina, as well as intracellular idioblasts. The high concentration of waxes and idioblasts found in Dracaena cinnabari may possibly have a connection with the unique climate and environment of the island where it grows. Random amplified polymorphic DNA's markers were used to assess levels of variation within the population of Diksam Kafoz. Despite the small size of the samples, the genetic diversity proved to be quite high.