The Madagascar dragon tree, Dracaena marginata, is one of the most familiar foliage plants around. You’ll see it in homes, offices, hotels and malls, and it earns its spot on lists of durable indoor plants. Narrow green leaves edged in red sit in tufts on top of slender, often curving stems.
Some people mistake it for a palm, which is why you’ll still hear it called a “dracaena palm.” It isn’t a palm. It belongs to the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), the same family as the yucca plant.
A name note before we start: the plant is now listed as Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia, previously known as Dracaena marginata. Nurseries and most growers still use marginata, so that’s the name we use here.
Dracaena Marginata Quick Care Tips
- Botanical name: Dracaena marginata, now listed as Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia
- Earlier names: Cordyline marginata, Pleomele marginata
- Common names: Dragon tree, Madagascar dragon tree, red-edge dracaena, red-marginated dracaena
- Pronunciation: dra-SEE-nah re-FLEX-ah var. an-gus-ti-FOH-lee-ah
- Family and origin: Asparagaceae; native to Madagascar and nearby islands, including Mauritius
- Growability: Easy, low-maintenance houseplant; slow growing
- Hardiness zones: USDA zones 10 to 12, though listings vary and some give 10B to 11
- Size: About 6 feet as a houseplant unless pruned; 15 to 20 feet in the landscape or in the wild
- Flowering: Rarely blooms indoors; small, fragrant white flowers in spring
- Light: Bright, indirect light; tolerates low light
- Temperature: Keep above 60°F; normal room temperatures away from drafts. Recommended daytime ranges vary: 60 to 70°F, 60 to 75°F or 70 to 80°F
- Humidity: Benefits from occasional misting when indoor humidity drops below 30 to 40%
- Soil: Well-draining, loamy, peaty potting mix without a lot of perlite
- Water: Let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly; use distilled, rain or filtered water
- Fertilizer: Light feeder; spring through fall
- Pests and problems: Spider mites, mealybugs, scale and thrips; root rot from overwatering; fluoride damage
- Propagation: Tip cuttings, cane sections and air layering
- Safety: Toxic to people, cats and dogs if eaten; the poison severity is rated low
Names, Cultivars and Growing Forms
The dragon tree goes by several common names: dragon tree, Madagascar dragon tree, Malaysian dracaena, red-marginated dracaena, straight-marginated dracaena and red-edge (or red-edged) dracaena.
Don’t confuse it with the dragon’s blood tree. That name belongs to Dracaena draco, a separate species grown as a landscape plant. And don’t confuse it with the plant most people call the money tree today, Pachira aquatica.
There are several named cultivars, including these:
- ‘Bicolor’: grayish-green leaves with pink or red edges
- ‘Colorama’: variegated pink leaves with white and green stripes, 5 to 6 feet tall
- ‘Magenta’: green leaves with magenta-red margins
- ‘Tarzan’: green, spiky, tough, wide and thick leaves
- ‘Tricolor’: variegated green leaves with white and pink edges
Growers also shape the plant into different forms. Young plants are single-stemmed but can be induced to branch, and are sometimes trained to have bent or “character” stems. The stems often have natural bends, and some growers train bends by setting the plant on its side for a while. That’s how you get bush forms, straight canes, staggered canes, tree forms and the twisty character plants you see in stores.
Growers can also plant several canes of different lengths in one pot to make a fuller plant. Missouri Botanical Garden says plants of different heights may be placed in the same container. Because it takes up so little floor space, a tall dragon tree is a handy way to fill a corner.
How Big Does a Dragon Tree Get?
Indoors, plan on about 6 feet. It typically grows to 6 feet or more over time unless pruned shorter, and houseplants can be pruned to a smaller size. Dragon trees can reach 10 feet.
Outdoors in frost-free climates, it gets much bigger: up to 15 feet, and as much as 20 feet in its native habitat or as a landscape plant in the tropics. It is hardy outdoors in zones 10B to 11.
It grows slowly overall, though in good light it can grow up to 18 inches a year for its first few years. As new leaves appear at the top, the oldest leaves lower down turn yellow and fall off. Lower leaves fall off with age, leaving diamond-shaped leaf scars on the stems. More on that here: Dracaena leaves turning yellow.
Dracaena Marginata Care
Light
Bright, indirect light gives the best results. Place the plant in bright indirect light, protected from direct sun and drafts.
Dragon trees tolerate low light, which is why they are so popular in offices. There’s a trade-off, though. Foliage loses its best color in too much shade. When a plant grown in dim light moves to a brighter spot, its new leaves come in thicker and stronger and it grows faster.
Go easy on direct sun indoors. Round dry patches and streaks on the leaves may be caused by too much sunlight. Sunburn shows up as sunken, rust-colored areas, usually near the leaf tips; move the plant out of that light and trim the damaged areas. Dracaenas for interior use should be grown under shade, so move a new plant into brighter light gradually.
Watering
Let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly. Let the plant dry between waterings, but not severely, and avoid cold water. Advice varies here: waiting until the soil surface is dry to the touch also works, and a more generous schedule keeps the soil uniformly moist during the growing season, then reduces watering from fall to late winter. Let the extra water drain out of the pot, and never leave the pot sitting in a saucer full of water. For more detail, see how and when to water Dracaena plants.
Watch your water source, too. Like most other dracaenas, this species is sensitive to fluoride, which discolors the leaves. Use distilled, rain or filtered water: distilled or non-fluorinated water is best, and filtered water or rain water may help.
When growing dragon trees indoors, I like to use sub-irrigation, watering from below. If you tend to forget about watering, a self-watering planter such as the Lechuza self-watering planter is one option. Let the potting mix dry out between refills rather than keeping it soggy.
Soil and Repotting
Use a well-draining potting mix. A loamy, peaty, well-drained potting soil works, and so does a standard commercial houseplant mix.
Skip the heavy perlite mixes. Avoid potting soils with a high percentage of perlite, and keep the soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5 to prevent fluoride injury. Commercial growers are advised to leach perlite before using it in production mixes.
Because dragon trees grow slowly, they don’t need repotting often. Move up to a slightly larger pot with drainage holes when the plant outgrows its container. Don’t repot or fertilize for about four weeks after a new plant comes indoors, so it isn’t stressed further.
Temperature and Humidity
Keep it above 60°F. UF/IFAS Extension research says dracaenas should be kept above 60°F at all times; above that, the dragon tree is comfortable where you are. Recommended daytime temperatures vary: normal house temperatures of 60 to 70°F, with nights about 10°F cooler; 60 to 75°F; or 70 to 80°F. Avoid drafts. The plant tolerates a wide range of indoor temperatures.
Cold is the real enemy. Slimy, dead spots on the leaves and mass leaf drop point to chilling injury, which is why that 60°F floor matters. Several hours at 32 to 37°F causes chlorotic (yellow) banding on the leaves. If your plant summers outdoors, bring it in before nights get chilly. More here: cold-tolerant houseplants.
Dry winter air can brown the leaf tips. Dry tips and edges are usually caused by too little humidity, and plants benefit from occasional misting when indoor humidity drops below 30 to 40%. You can also set the pot on a bed of wet pebbles. A humidifier is another option. Learn more about your home’s microclimate and the reasons behind brown tips on houseplant leaves.
Fertilizer
The dragon tree is a light feeder. It has a low fertilizer requirement; use a controlled-release fertilizer in spring, summer and fall, or a liquid foliage plant fertilizer once a month in spring and summer, or time-release pellets. Follow the product label for the amount, and don’t fertilize houseplants more than they need.
Too much fertilizer shows up in the leaves. Leaf tips and margins may burn or turn yellow if the plant is fertilized too heavily, and avoid fertilizers containing superphosphate, which often has high levels of fluorine. Details: Dracaena fertilizer: using liquid or granular fertilizers.
Pruning and Cleaning
If a stem gets too tall or bare, cut it off at the height you want. New leaves will soon appear, and cutting back the stems forces the plant to branch. Pruned stems usually grow 2 or more branches: once a stem is cut, new shoots develop below the cut and make a bushier plant.
The leaves collect dust over time. Wipe them now and then with a damp cloth to keep the plant looking fresh.
Propagating Dracaena Marginata
Commercial growers start most dragon trees from cuttings. Rooting tip cuttings, air layering and cane cuttings are the main propagation methods for Dracaena.
At home, you have a few options:
- Tip cuttings: Tall plants may be trimmed by removing the crown and rooting it. Pot the top in fresh, well-draining mix.
- Cane sections: Two- to four-inch-long cane sections can be laid horizontally in potting mix, and new shoots will emerge from nodes along the stem.
- Air layering: Air layering is another method, mainly used on large specimens.
Pruning and propagating go together nicely: the stump you cut back branches out, and the top becomes a new plant.
Dracaena Marginata Pests and Problems
Pests
Dragon trees are tough, but a few sap-feeding pests do show up. Watch for spider mites, mealybugs and scale, along with thrips and chewing insects; mealybugs and scale occasionally attack the plant. Read more about how to defend houseplants against bugs.
For mealybugs on a houseplant, UC IPM (the University of California Statewide IPM Program) says to hand pick them or prune them out, and for small infestations to dab them with a cotton swab dipped in a solution of 70% or less isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in water. Test it on a small part of the plant a day or two beforehand to make sure it doesn’t cause leaf burn. Insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils and neem oil applied directly to immature mealybugs can reduce their numbers. Details: getting rid of mealybugs on Dracaena.
For spider mites, try a water spray or mist on the undersides of the leaves, and insecticidal soap or oil if a treatment is needed.
Leaf Drop, Brown Tips and Root Rot
Disease is rarely a problem indoors. Too much or too little water, plus insects and mites, cause most dracaena problems, and root rot usually comes from a soil mix that doesn’t drain quickly or from watering too often. Leaves may also brown if the soil is too moist or too dry.
If your dragon tree suddenly drops a lot of leaves, Clemson Cooperative Extension points to these possible causes:
- Changes in temperature
- Drafts
- Too much water
- Poor drainage, such as a pot sitting in a saucer of water
- Heavy insect infestations
Also check for fluoride damage. Dracaena is very sensitive to fluoride, with symptoms that include yellowing of the leaf tips or margins and dead, scorched areas. Damaged leaf tips and margins will not recover, so the fix is to prevent new damage with low-fluoride water and fertilizer and a soil pH near 6.5.
Is Dracaena Marginata Toxic to Cats and Dogs?
Yes. The ASPCA lists dracaena, including the dragon tree, as toxic to dogs and cats. It names saponins as the toxic principle, with vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, loss of appetite, drooling and dilated pupils in cats.
NC State Extension rates the poison severity as low. It lists dilated pupils, abdominal pain, increased heart rate and drooling in cats, and vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, drooling, incoordination and weakness in both cats and dogs. For people, it lists mouth and stomach irritation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and says the sap can irritate skin. Keep the plant out of reach of pets and children.
Does the Dragon Tree Clean the Air?
The dragon tree was one of the plants in the 1989 NASA study of houseplants and indoor air. In that work, Dracaena marginata removed some formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene from small, sealed test chambers over 24 hours. Read more about the clean air study plants.
A sealed chamber is not a living room, though. A 2020 review of 12 chamber studies in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology found it would take 10 to 1,000 plants per square meter of floor space to match the air exchange a typical building already gets from outdoor air. Enjoy your dragon tree for its looks and easy care, not as an air cleaner.
Dracaena Marginata Cultivars
Dracaena ‘Tarzan’
‘Tarzan’ was discovered in 1998 in Homestead, Florida, as a naturally occurring mutation of Dracaena marginata, according to its plant patent (US Plant Patent 15,065, granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2004 and now listed as expired). The patent was assigned to Sunshine Tropical Foliage.
The patent describes ‘Tarzan’ as upright, with slender stems and linear, fleshy, glossy dark green leaves with dark purple margins. Compared with its parent and other marginata selections, it grew more slowly, had more leaves and was denser and bushier, and had longer and broader leaves.
The patent also calls it durable, with “excellent keeping quality,” and says it maintains good leaf substance “indefinitely under interior conditions.” It reports more resistance to spider mites, mealybugs and scale than its parent, though not immunity, and no added resistance to diseases. Care is the same as for any dragon tree.
Dracaena ‘Magenta’
‘Magenta’ gets its name from the magenta-red margins on its green leaves, which give it a palm-tree-like look. I think ‘Magenta’ has a softer look; after ‘Tarzan,’ it would be my second choice. Care is the same as for the species.
Dracaena ‘Tricolor’
‘Tricolor’ adds a cream or ivory stripe to the green leaf along with the red margin. Descriptions vary from cream and red stripes on narrow green leaves to ivory stripes through the central green area with red margins. When I was growing dragon trees in production, I noticed more brown spots on the leaves of ‘Tricolor.’
Give the variegated cultivars your brightest indirect light. The red tones in marginata cultivars increase with higher light, and the foliage loses its best color in too much shade.
Dracaena ‘Colorama’
‘Colorama’ is similar to ‘Tricolor’ but with red and ivory stripes in the center of the leaf, or variegated pink leaves with white and green stripes in other descriptions. It grows 5 to 6 feet tall. Like ‘Tricolor,’ it colors up best in bright, indirect light.
Other Dracaena Species Grown Indoors
- Dracaena arborea
- Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’ (mass cane, corn plant)
- Dracaena sanderiana, “lucky bamboo”
- Dracaena fragrans ‘Warneckii’, white-striped leaves
- Dracaena fragrans ‘Janet Craig’, all green
- Dracaena reflexa
- Dracaena surculosa
Read our guide to the types of Dracaena for more. You can also read how Dracaena fragrans got its name, or meet two of its cultivars, Dracaena Lemon Lime and Dracaena compacta.
With its slim stems, red-edged leaves and many shapes, the dragon tree fits almost any indoor spot, and you can find one at nearly any nursery or garden center. Give it bright, indirect light, let it dry a little between waterings, watch the fluoride and the cold, and it will keep going for years. Do you have a dragon tree in a bush, cane or twisty character form? Tell us how yours is doing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you care for a Dracaena marginata?
Give it bright, indirect light, let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly, and keep it above 60°F and away from drafts. Use distilled, rain or filtered water, because the plant is sensitive to fluoride, and feed it lightly with a controlled-release fertilizer in spring, summer and fall. Avoid potting soils with a high percentage of perlite.
What is a Dracaena marginata ‘Tricolor’?
‘Tricolor’ is a cultivar of the dragon tree with extra color in its narrow leaves: cream and red stripes on narrow green leaves, or ivory stripes through the green center with red margins, depending on the description. Its close cousin, ‘Colorama’, carries red and ivory stripes in the center of the leaf.
Is tap water bad for a dragon tree?
It can be. This species is sensitive to fluoride, which discolors the leaves, so use distilled, rain or filtered water (distilled or non-fluorinated water is best, and filtered or rain water may help). Yellow leaf tips or margins and dead, scorched areas are fluoride symptoms; keep the soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5 and avoid fertilizers containing superphosphate.
Is Dracaena marginata toxic to cats and dogs?
Yes. Dracaena, including the dragon tree, is toxic to dogs and cats because of saponins, with vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, loss of appetite, drooling and dilated pupils in cats. The poison severity is rated low, and the sap can irritate skin. Keep the plant out of reach of pets and children.
Why is my dragon tree dropping its leaves?
Some leaf drop is normal: older, lower leaves fall off with age. A sudden loss of many leaves is different: temperature changes, drafts, too much water, poor drainage and heavy insect infestations are the usual causes. Slimy spots and mass leaf drop point to chilling injury, so keep plants above 60°F at all times.