Dracaena

An evergreen shrub or small tree from tropical Africa, grown worldwide as a houseplant for its upright, cane-like stems crowned with arching, strap-shaped leaves, often striped yellow, cream or white. NC State Extension says the common name comes from its likeness to a corn stalk. It grows slowly: UF/IFAS gives 20 feet or more in its native habitat but 4 to 6 feet as a container plant. It rarely flowers indoors, though the small white flowers are strongly scented at night. Outside USDA zones 10b and warmer it lives indoors, in bright, filtered light out of direct sun. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, and NC State Extension says it is toxic to people if eaten.

A slow-growing, long-lived evergreen tree from the Canary Islands, grown for its sculptural form: a thick trunk that forks into many stout branches, each ending in a rosette of stiff, sword-shaped leaves, so that an old tree carries a dense, umbrella-shaped crown. The RHS gives 13 to 26 feet tall after 20 to 50 years, and Wikipedia says it takes about 10 years to reach 3.9 feet. It is a garden tree only in sheltered, frost-free climates; the RHS rates it for a winter minimum of 41 to 50°F, and everywhere colder it is a container plant moved under cover for winter. Its red resin is one source of dragon's blood. Wikipedia says the IUCN lists it as Endangered in the wild, and the RHS says it is harmful to pets if eaten.

A slow-growing evergreen shrub from west and west-central tropical Africa with thin, wiry stems and glossy, dark green leaves spotted cream or yellow, carried in pairs or whorls. It is also called spotted dracaena and Florida beauty, after its best-known cultivar, and Wikipedia lists the old name Dracaena godseffiana among its synonyms. Indoors it grows 2 to 3 feet tall, NC State Extension says, though the RHS records stems to 9.8 feet on mature plants. Outside USDA zones 9a and warmer it is a houseplant for bright light out of direct sun. NC State says it is poisonous to people, cats and dogs if eaten, and the ASPCA lists gold dust dracaena as toxic to dogs and cats.

A slender evergreen shrub from west-central tropical Africa, sold as lucky bamboo although, as NC State Extension says, it is not a bamboo at all: fleshy green canes carry widely spaced, strap-shaped leaves, and the stems are often trained into spirals, curls or braids, or sold as bare canes standing in water. It is also sold as ribbon plant, Belgian evergreen and Chinese water bamboo, and under the old name Dracaena braunii; Wikipedia says most plants carrying that name in cultivation are this species, while the true D. braunii is a separate coastal West African plant with much shorter flowers. Outside USDA zones 10 and warmer it is a houseplant for bright, indirect light or shade. NC State says it is poisonous if eaten and its sap can irritate skin, and the ASPCA lists ribbon plant, one of its names, as toxic to dogs and cats.

A slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree from Madagascar and nearby islands of the western Indian Ocean, sold almost everywhere as Dracaena marginata, the name Wikipedia says horticulture generally uses and the one under which the ASPCA, the RHS and UF/IFAS Extension list it. Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants treats Dracaena marginata as a synonym of this variety of Song of India (Dracaena reflexa). Slender stems, bare below as the old leaves fall, carry tufts of glossy, sword-shaped leaves that NC State Extension describes as 24 inches long and 0.5 inches wide, green with reddish edges. As a houseplant it grows to 6 feet and can be pruned smaller; outdoors in the tropics it reaches 20 feet. It is grown indoors except in USDA zones 10 and warmer. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, and NC State says it is toxic to people as well.

A slow-growing, semi-woody dracaena from the forest understory of Nigeria and west-central tropical Africa, grown as a houseplant for broad, glossy leaves banded crosswise in deep green and silver like a zebra. NC State Extension, which also calls it green zebra, gives it a compact, upright habit about 2 to 3 feet tall and wide indoors, usually on a single stem that branches with age, and notes that it is less common in the trade than other dracaenas. It wants bright, indirect light, warmth, humidity and water free of fluoride and chlorine. Outside USDA zone 11 and warmer it lives indoors. It is poisonous: the ASPCA lists Dracaena as toxic to dogs and cats.

An evergreen shrub or small tree from northeastern Mozambique, Madagascar and the islands of the western Indian Ocean, grown as a houseplant for its spirals of glossy, sword-shaped leaves on thick, irregular stems. Wikipedia gives song of India and song of Jamaica as names for the species, while NC State Extension and UF/IFAS Extension treat 'Song of India' as a cultivar, which NC State describes with cream-edged leaves, and 'Song of Jamaica' as another, with fine lime-green streaks; UF/IFAS calls the species reflexed dracaena. Indoors NC State says it reaches 3 to 6 feet, and in its native habitat 12 to 18 feet. It is grown indoors except in USDA zones 10b and warmer, in bright, indirect light. NC State says it is toxic to cats and dogs if eaten, and the ASPCA lists dracaenas as toxic to dogs and cats.