索科特拉岛——地球上最怪异的地方

索科特拉岛是也门群岛四个岛屿中的一个小岛，它们是远离非洲角海岸的印度洋中的一些小岛，大约在阿拉伯半岛以南350公里。索科特拉拥有大洲起源时地球最原始的地貌。该群岛地貌的特点是狭窄的沿海平原，有溶洞的石灰岩高原以及海拔1525米的山峰。

Like the Galapagos Islands, this island is teeming with 700 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, a full 1/3 of which are endemic, i.e. found nowhere else on Earth.

正如加拉帕戈斯群岛一样，该岛盛产700多种极为稀有的植物物种和动物物种，有三分之一的物种是其所特有的，也就是说在其他地方没有。

Socotra is home to more than 800 species of plants, some 240 of which are endemic to the island, and there are certainly many more plant species that have yet to be discovered. The climate is harsh, hot and dry, and yet - the most amazing plant life thrives there.

索科特拉岛是800多种植物的产地，其中约240种是小岛上特有的，当然，还有很多植物物种尚未被发现。这里气候非常恶劣，炎热干燥，但是，令人惊叹的植物在这里蓬勃生长。

A Dragon抯 Blood Tree (Dracaena cinnabari) is seen in front of the Skund mountains on the island of Socotra, Yemen. The tree is so named because any injury to the bark results in a deep red liquid excreting from the scar ? compared in the past to the "Blood of Dragons".

龙血树生长在也门索科特拉岛的斯纲克山前。这种树这样命名时因为当树干遭受任何伤害的时候都会从疤痕的地方流出深红色液体，在过去被认为是龙的血液。

The branches spread out into the sky and from below appear to hover over the landscape like so many flying saucers... and from above they have a distinct mushroom look.

树枝伸展向天空，从下面看去，就像盘旋在空中的许多飞碟......从上面看，它们又像是一个独特的蘑菇的样子。

There is also the Desert Rose (adenium obesium) which looks like nothing so much as a blooming elephant leg.

这里还有沙漠玫瑰（夹竹桃科），把它比作粗壮的大象腿再也合适不过了。

A Socotran Fig Tree (Dorstenia gigas) with a bizare swollen trunk that almost has human proportions grows against a limestone rock face on the island of Socotra. The plants are one of over 300 plant species endemic to the island.

索科特拉无花果树倚靠着石灰岩、面向索科特拉岛生长，它那肿胀的树干跟人的身体比例几乎一样。这种植物就是岛上300多种特有物种中的一种。