© Steffen Mokosch · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Dracaena fragrans
Toxic🐾Drachenbäume · (Dracaena fragrans)
Asparagus family (Asparagaceae)
Description
Dracaena fragrans, is a flowering plant species that is native to 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 (1,970–7,380 ft) altitude.
External use only!
This plant must NOT be taken internally. Use only as compress, salve, or bath.
- RawWhole plantExternalTraditional use
Cornstalk Dracaena was rated in the 1989 NASA Clean Air Study as particularly effective at removing trichloroethylene from indoor air. Formaldehyde and xylene are also absorbed.
- CompressLeafExternalFolk medicine
In traditional African medicine, leaves and bark of the cornstalk dracaena are used externally for wound healing and skin conditions.
- RawWhole plantExternalFolk medicine
Among the Chagga people of Tanzania, the cornstalk dracaena (known as 'masale') is regarded as a sacred plant and is planted around homes.
Distribution in Europe
🪴 Grow at home
- ☀ Light
- bright, indirect
- 💧 Water
- weekly
- 🌱 Soil
- Standard potting compost
- 🪴 Pot
- 25 cm
- ⭐ Difficulty
- ★☆☆ beginner
- 🐾 Pets
- toxic to pets
Tips:
- Very long-lived — often reaches decades old.
- Water sparingly in winter (every 2-3 weeks).
- Brown leaf tips are normal in dry heating air.
Care tips are general indoor-gardening recommendations, not scientific sources.