Dracaena fragrans

Dracaena fragrans
Cultivated plant in Hawaii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
clade:	Angiosperms
clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Asparagaceae
Subfamily:	Nolinoideae
Genus:	Dracaena
Species:	D. fragrans
Binomial name
Dracaena fragrans (L.) Ker Gawl.

Dracaena fragrans (Cornstalk Dracaena) is a flowering plant species that is native throughout tropical Africa, from Sudan south to Mozambique, west to Côte d'Ivoire and southwest to Angola, growing in upland regions at 600–2,250 m (2,000–7,380 ft) altitude.^[1][2]

Description

Foliage and flowers.

It is a slow growing shrub, usually multistemmed at the base, mature specimens reaching 15 m (49 ft) or more tall with a narrow crown of usually slender erect branches. Stems may reach up to 30 cm (12 in) diameter on old plants; in forest habitats they may become horizontal with erect side branches. Young plants have a single unbranched stem with a rosette of leaves until the growing tip flowers or is damaged, after which it branches, producing two or more new stems; thereafter, branching increases with subsequent flowering episodes.^[1][3]

The leaves are glossy green, lanceolate, 20–150 cm (7.9–59 in) long and 2–12 cm (0.79–4.7 in) wide; small leaves are erect to spreading, and larger leaves usually drooping under their weight. The flowers are produced in panicles 15–160 cm (5.9–63 in) long, the individual flowers are 2.5 cm (0.98 in) diameter, with a six-lobed corolla, pink at first, opening white with a fine red or purple central line on each of the 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) lobes; they are highly fragrant, and popular with pollinating insects. The fruit is an orange-red berry 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, containing several seeds.^[1][3]

Cultivation and uses

In Africa, Cornstalk Dracaena is widely grown as a hedge plant;^[1] it is suited to frost-free climates, in USDA zones 10-11. Elsewhere, it is primarily popular as a houseplant, valued for its tolerance of a wide range of indoor conditions from full sun to low light conditions.^[3] It is also very tolerant of neglect, and has been shown by the NASA Clean Air Study to help remove indoor pollutants such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene.^[4]

Several cultivars are available with the leaves variegated with longitudinal white or yellow stripes. The most popular cultivar is 'Massangeana', which has a bright yellow central stripe on the leaves. The cultivar 'Compacta' is more compact, for indoor locations. Other popular cultivars include 'Janet Craig' and 'Warneckii', these often sold under the synonym D. deremensis.^[3]

In cultivation in the Neotropics, the flowers are visited by a few generalist hummingbird species like the Sapphire-spangled Emerald (Amazilia lactea).^[5]

Propagation

Dracaena fragrans is propagated by cutting segments of old stems 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) long. These are allowed to dry off, and then inserted into moist sand until they have rooted. New growth, typically two or three shoots, comes from old leaf scars at the top of the stem.

Etymology and synonymy

The species name refers to the fragrant flowers, while the English name derives from a perceived resemblance of the stem to a corn (Zea mays) stalk. Synonyms include Aletris fragrans L. (basionym), Cordyline fragrans (L.) Planch., Pleomele fragrans (L.) Salisb., Sansevieria fragrans (L.) Jacq., Dracaena deremensis Engl., Dracaena smithii Hook.f., and Dracaena ugandensis Baker.^[1][2] Other English names include striped dracaena (for variegated cultivars), corn plant (for the cultivar 'Massangeana';^[3]) and Chinese money tree^{[citation needed]}.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} JSTOR Plant Science: Dracaena fragrans
2. ^ ^{a b} Germplasm Resources Information Network: Dracaena fragrans
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening 2: 96. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
4. ^ Wolverton, B.C. (1996). How to Grow Fresh Air. New York: Penguin Books.
5. ^ Baza Mendonça, Luciana & dos Anjos, Luiz. (2005). Beija-flores (Aves, Trochilidae) e seus recursos florais em uma área urbana do Sul do Brasil [Hummingbirds (Aves, Trochilidae) and their flowers in an urban area of southern Brazil]. [Portuguese with English abstract] Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 22 (1): 51–59. doi:10.1590/S0101-81752005000100007 PDF fulltext