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8 plants worth knowing

Yemen

Yemen is the greenest corner of the Arabian Peninsula: monsoon rains water the high mountains in the west, where coffee, khat and cereals have been grown on terraces for centuries. Lower down stretch the hot plains of the Tihama and the dry wadis of Hadramaut with their resin-yielding trees, while the Socotra archipelago is famous for its extraordinary, largely endemic flora.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Arabica coffee 1

    crop · The coffee bush on the national emblem of Yemen

    Arabica coffee

    Coffea arabica

    It was from the Yemeni port of Mocha that coffee set out to conquer the world – the coffee bush still appears on Yemen’s emblem.
  2. Socotra dragon tree 2

    tree · Symbol of the Socotra archipelago

    Socotra dragon tree

    Dracaena cinnabari

    The Socotra dragon tree looks like an upturned umbrella, and blood-red resin oozes from its bark.
  3. Khat 3

    crop

    Khat

    Catha edulis

    Chewing khat leaves in the afternoon is a daily ritual for millions of Yemenis – and the plant has taken over many former coffee fields.
  4. Myrrh 4

    shrub

    Myrrh

    Commiphora myrrha

    Myrrh from Yemen – one of the gifts of the Three Kings – enriched the ancient kingdom of Saba and the Incense Route.
  5. Desert rose 5

    succulent

    Desert rose

    Adenium obesum

    The “desert rose”, with its fat, bottle-shaped trunk, blooms pink on the bare rocks of Socotra and the Yemeni mountains.
  6. Christ’s thorn jujube 6

    tree

    Christ’s thorn jujube

    Ziziphus spina-christi

    Honey from the sidr blossoms of Wadi Do’an in Hadramaut is reputed to be the finest and most expensive honey in the Arabian Peninsula.
  7. Date palm 7

    palm

    Date palm

    Phoenix dactylifera

    In Wadi Hadramaut date palm groves surround the mud-brick tower houses of Shibam, known as the “Manhattan of the desert”.
  8. Frankincense tree 8

    tree

    Frankincense tree

    Boswellia sacra

    Frankincense from the mountains of Hadramaut and Mahra was for centuries the source of the wealth of the kingdoms of Saba and Hadramaut on the Incense Route.