The dragon tree is extremely slow-growing, taking 8 - 11 years to reach just 2 – 3 feet, when it begins to flower. Flowering occurs almost simultaneously on the Canary Islands, taking place only every 15 years. The flowering causes the stem to branch, resulting in a highly branched tree which can be aged according to the number of branches. The oldest individual is thought to be more than 650 years old.
Populations totaling a few hundred trees are found on five of the seven Canary Islands, in addition to two individuals on Madeira Island, Portugal and populations in Cape Verde, Morocco and about 50 – 80 trees on the Azorean Islands, particularly on Ilha das Flores.
The dragon tree is found in dry forests. On Madeira and in the Azores, the plant grows in steep coastal cliffs usually below 200 m altitudes. In the Canaries, it can be found in inaccessible cliffs from 100 - 600 m altitude, and in Morocco and Cabo Verde it grows high in the mountains.
This species has undergone an extreme decline because of complex problems. It is said that its seeds used to germinate as a result of being eaten by a flightless bird and passing through the bird’s gut, but following the extinction of this bird, the seeds can no longer germinate without human manipulation.