This group of six rare Dracaena draco are planted beside the Espano flats, just below the St Kevins Arcade entrance to Myers Park, central Auckland. The 1964 historic photo [1] shows no sign of them, but given the height of the tallest is about 6 metres, a planting date of circa 1970 looks likely. As the photos show they make a great sight against the Spanish villa style building, mixing well with the cabbage trees. The steps also lead down to a significant double avenue of Phoenix canariensis, planted 1914, both plants being endemic to the Canary Islands. Possibly the largest representative of the Dracaena occurs across Auckland in Parnell – see AR/1334 (Lloyd, M., 2024)

1. Crop from ‘Aerial view south over Karangahape Road, 1964’. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 580-10457