Popular Types Of Dracaena Used Indoors And Outdoors

Dracaena (dra-SEE-nah) is one of the most popular plant groups for homes, offices and warm-climate gardens. Dracaenas are attractive, adaptable, low-maintenance and easy to grow, with species suited to indoor or outdoor use.

It’s a big group. The genus holds up to 198 species of herbaceous or woody perennials, shrubs and trees in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). Counts vary by source and age, though, and older guides put the genus at about 40 species.

Dracaenas are native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Australia, Central and South America and Southeast Asia. The famous dragon tree, Dracaena draco, comes from Cape Verde, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Madeira.

The name comes from the ancient Greek word drakaina, meaning female dragon, as both NC State and the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) explain. Dracaena draco has bright red sap, known as dragon’s blood.

Here’s what dracaenas have in common, how to care for them, a closer look at the most popular types, and what the move of snake plants into the genus means for your plants.

The Many Wonderful Features of Dracaena

Dracaenas come in more shapes than most people expect. They may grow as single upright stems, cane-like stems or branching stems, and some form rosettes of spear-shaped or grass-shaped leaves.

Leaf color runs from solid green to variegated or striped, in shades of green, red, yellow or white. That range is why a collection made up only of dracaenas can still look varied.

Indoors, most dracaenas range from 2 to 10 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide, and they can grow much larger outdoors in their native habitats. The corn plant, for example, reaches up to 6 feet.

Many of the woody types get taller with age. They form rosettes of long, narrow, glossy leaves on top of a woody stem that gets taller as the plant matures, and large plants make a fine focal point in a room.

NOTE: If you grow dracaena, you’ll likely enjoy its cousin, the Cordyline plant. The Hawaiian ti plant (Cordyline fruticosa) is also in the asparagus family and was once named Dracaena terminalis. One of its many named cultivars is Cordyline ‘Red Sister’.

How Do You Grow Dracaena?

Light

Dracaenas prefer bright, indirect sunlight, and direct sunlight can scorch the leaves.

Many types also handle lower light. The Madagascar dragon tree is one of the best indoor trees for low-light areas. Keep the corn plant in bright to moderate filtered light. Its leaves narrow if the light is too low.

Light also affects color. The yellow of the corn plant ‘Massangeana’ and the red tones of Madagascar dragon tree cultivars increase with higher light.

Water

Water by feel, not by the calendar: let the top inch of soil dry out between waterings, then water thoroughly. Root rot can occur if the soil is overly moist, and overwatering can turn the leaves yellow.

Needs vary a little by type. For the corn plant, keep the soil moist during the growing season and cut back on water in winter, and grow it in a pot with drainage holes.

Water quality matters with this group. Dracaenas are sensitive to the salts, chlorine and fluoride in tap water, which can brown the leaf tips and damage the foliage. Filtered water or rainwater may help. The simple rule: use distilled, rain or filtered water.

Temperature and Humidity

Dracaenas are tropical plants, so keep them above 60°F at all times to avoid chilling injury. They thrive between 60 and 75°F with moderate to high humidity, though one guide says they need warmth of at least 65°F. Cold below 40°F can harm them, and placing them too close to a radiator in winter will brown the foliage.

Feeding

Feeding needs vary by type. The Madagascar dragon tree has a low fertilizer requirement and suggests a controlled-release fertilizer in spring, summer and fall. For Dracaena reflexa var. reflexa, it suggests a balanced liquid fertilizer monthly in spring and summer. Whatever product you choose, follow the label for how much and how often.

Brown Tips and Other Problems

Brown leaf tips are the classic dracaena complaint. NC State links browning to low humidity, salt buildup in the soil, and the salts, chlorine and fluoride in tap water. For the corn plant, it suggests watering with non-fluoridated water and flushing salts from the soil monthly.

Pests to watch for, include thrips, mealybugs, aphids, scale, fungus gnats and spider mites. It also says fungal leaf spot can follow when the leaves get wet during watering.

What Are Some of the Most Popular Types of Dracaena Plants?

Madagascar Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata)

The Madagascar dragon tree, long sold as Dracaena marginata, now goes by a new name: NC State Extension lists it as Dracaena reflexa var. angustifolia. Its narrow, glossy, sword-shaped leaves have red edges.

It is a slow-growing, drought-tolerant shrub native to Madagascar and nearby islands. As a houseplant it grows to about 6 feet and can be pruned smaller, and in the tropics it can reach 20 feet. In good light it can grow up to 18 inches a year for its first few years.

For care, bright, indirect light is ideal. Let the plant dry between waterings, but not severely. Cultivars include:

• ‘Bicolor’: grayish-green leaves with pink or red edges
• ‘Colorama‘: pink variegated leaves with white and green stripes
• ‘Magenta’: green leaves with magenta-red margins
• ‘Tarzan’: wide, thick, tough green leaves
• ‘Tricolor’: green leaves with white and pink edges

Dracaena Draco (Dragon Tree)

Dracaena draco, the dragon tree, has a look all its own. The San Diego Zoo describes a fat, scaly trunk, succulent branches and an umbrella-like canopy of stiff, blue-green, sword-shaped leaves.

It is drought-tolerant, grows in full sun or partial shade, and can withstand temperatures down to 20°F. Patience is required: it takes about 8 to 10 years to reach just 2 to 3 feet tall. It is sometimes used in landscaping and grown indoors as a potted tree.

Its greenish-white flowers are followed by strands of red and black berries, though some sources describe the fruits as orange-red. The largest dragon tree on record, the “Monster of Orotava” in the Canary Islands, was said to be more than 68 feet tall before a storm destroyed it in the late 1800s. In the wild, the species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Dracaena Arborea (Tree Dracaena)

Dracaena arborea, the tree dracaena, lives up to its name. The UF/IFAS Extension production guide says mature plants may grow 30 to 40 feet tall, usually with several branches and 3-foot-long, narrow leaves.

Indoors, it is grown as a container plant. It is one of the dracaenas that Florida growers raise under shade for interior use.

Corn Plant (Dracaena Fragrans and Massangeana)

Dracaena fragrans is the corn plant. The name comes from the way its tall, unbranched stem and broad, strap-like leaves resemble a stalk of corn. The species name refers to its sweetly fragrant flowers. They are borne infrequently, but they have a very strong fragrance at night.

The best-known form is ‘Massangeana‘, or mass cane, with yellowish-lime stripes down the center of the leaves. The plain-green wild type is less common than the striped forms.

Corn plants are slow growers native to tropical Africa. Give them bright to moderate filtered light, soil kept moist in the growing season with less water in winter, and temperatures of 70 to 80°F. They are usually sold as multiple woody canes up to 15 feet tall, so a big one suits a sunroom, office lobby or wide hallway.

Outdoors, the corn plant is hardy in USDA zones 10 and 11.

Dracaena Reflexa (Song of India)

Dracaena reflexa has dark green leaves and was once called Pleomele reflexa. Young plants grow on single stems and usually branch once they reach about 3 feet.

Indoors, Dracaena reflexa var. reflexa can grow 3 to 6 feet tall, and in its native habitat it reaches 12 to 18 feet. As a houseplant it rarely flowers. When it does, the flowers are small, white and fragrant.

Variegated cultivars include:

• Song of India plant: leaves with cream margins
• Song of Jamaica

Here’s a fun twist: since the Madagascar dragon tree is now listed as a variety of Dracaena reflexa, these two popular houseplants are now treated as the same species.

Janet Craig (Dracaena Fragrans, Formerly Deremensis)

Janet Craig was long sold as Dracaena deremensis. NC State Extension now lists deremensis as a former name of the corn plant, so Janet Craig and its relatives are cultivars of Dracaena fragrans.

‘Janet Craig’ has shorter leaves on more compact stems than the corn plant. ‘Compacta‘ is the dwarf form of the Janet Craig group. ‘Janet Craig’ and ‘Janet Craig Compacta’ are listed separately, and the Janet Craig group can reach 15 feet, though most indoor plants stay under 10 feet. ‘Compacta’ is a solid green cultivar with dense clusters of short leaves, 3 to 6 feet tall. Other relatives include:

• ‘Lisa’
• ‘Michiko’
• ‘Hawaiian Sunshine’: compact, glossy, dark green leaves with light and dark green stripes

The compact forms are a good fit for smaller spaces such as apartments, bathrooms and office corners.

Warneckii and Lemon Lime

Dracaena warneckii, also called striped dracaena, is another corn plant cultivar. ‘Warneckii’ has grayish-green leaves with white or green stripes.

Dracaena Lemon Lime is a brighter relative. Its sword-like leaves are striped in cream, greenish-yellow and lime.

Dracaena Sanderiana (Lucky Bamboo)

Dracaena sanderiana, once called Dracaena braunii, is the lucky bamboo plant. One Extension service puts it, lucky bamboo is not a bamboo at all. It is a tropical shrub from West Africa, and its stems are often trained into braids or spirals.

You’ll often see it sold sitting in water. It can grow in a moist potting mix or in chlorine-free water. If you grow it in water, change the water weekly and give it a weak liquid fertilizer.

Lucky bamboo rarely blooms as a houseplant. Overwatering can yellow the leaves and rot the stems, and low humidity can brown the leaf tips.

Related: Why Are My Lucky Bamboo Leaves Turning Yellow?

Gold Dust Dracaena (Dracaena Surculosa)

This one doesn’t look like the others. Gold dust dracaena has 3-inch, whorled, glossy dark green leaves with creamy yellow spots. It is a shrubby, branching plant native to tropical Africa. It can reach 5 feet, but indoor specimens are usually 2 to 3 feet tall.

Snake Plants Are Dracaenas Now

If you grow snake plants, you already grow a dracaena. Molecular genetic research showed that the species once in Sansevieria are a specialized, succulent lineage within Dracaena, so they were reclassified and the genus was expanded.

The common snake plant, or mother-in-law’s tongue, is now Dracaena trifasciata (formerly Sansevieria trifasciata). It is an erect, clumping plant with stiff leaves up to 4 feet long and 2 to 4 inches wide, banded in shades of green. Other snake plants moved too, including the whale fin snake plant (Dracaena masoniana) and the African spear (Dracaena angolensis).

Here’s the important part: new name, same snake plant care. The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) says snake plants have different growing requirements from other dracaenas and keeps a separate growing guide for them. Let the soil dry between waterings from spring to autumn and water only every one to two months in winter. Compare that with the corn plant, which should be kept moist during the growing season. Snake plants also tolerate very low light and rarely bloom as houseplants.

Snake plants are often called air purifiers. A 2020 review of 12 published chamber studies, in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, found that matching the air an ordinary building already exchanges with the outdoors would take 10 to 1,000 potted plants per square meter of floor space. Enjoy them for their looks and toughness, not as an air cleaner.

Are Dracaena Plants Toxic to Pets?

Yes. The ASPCA lists dracaena as toxic to dogs and cats. It names saponins as the toxic principle, and its listed signs are vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, loss of appetite, drooling and, in cats, dilated pupils.

Some species can be toxic to people too, causing mouth and throat irritation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea if eaten, and handling some species can irritate the skin. Use caution when these plants are around pets or small children. Lucky bamboo and the snake plant are listed as toxic to cats and dogs as well.

If you think your pet has eaten part of a dracaena, call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 or your local veterinarian as soon as possible.

Conclusion

From ‘Compacta’, the dwarf form of Janet Craig, to the 30-foot tree dracaena, there’s a dracaena for almost every spot. Give most of them bright, indirect light, keep them above 60°F, let the top inch of soil dry and then water thoroughly, use distilled, rain or filtered water, and keep them away from curious pets. Treat snake plants as snake plants, even with their new name.

Which dracaena is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.