(dra-cee' nah fraa' grans mass-san-gee-aa' nah)

Common name: Corn Plant

Family: Agavaceae (Dracaenaceae), Agave

Height x width: 4-6' x 1-2' indoors

Foliage: recurved, dull green, with a broad longitudinal yellow-green band with narrow gray-green stripes (pale green, no striping for species)

Flowers: small panicles seldom seen in cultivation

Light: bright

Temperature: warm to average

Watering: moderate

Fertility: high

Humidity: humid

Soil: average

Pests and Problems: root rots, leaf spots, spider mites, mealybugs, scales; leaves turn brown on margins from too much or too little water, excess soluble salts, excess of fluoride, or from deficiency of boron or calcium

Growth habit, uses: foliage indoors, reportedly helps purify air indoors

Other interest: native to tropical and subtropical Africa; from the Greek drakaina meaning female dragon, refering to the red sap exuded from cut stems; from a large genus with many popular indoor species

Other culture: leach regularly to avoid salts accumulation

Propagation: tip or stem cuttings, often commercially propagated from leafless stem sections

Related Cultivars: (much less common)

'Lindenii'--creamy white marginal stripes

'Victoriae'--central silver streak, yellow edge

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