The Alien Tree of Socotra Island. the wonders

There are places on Earth so strange that they look like they belong on another planet. Far out in the Arabian Sea, isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years, lies an island called Socotra. At first glance, it feels less like a real place and more like a scene from a science-fiction movie—towering cliffs, barren mountains, and landscapes filled with life forms found almost nowhere else on Earth. Scientists often refer to Socotra as the “Galápagos of the Indian Ocean” because nearly a third of its plant species exist nowhere else on the planet. But among all of its natural wonders, one species stands above the rest.