Siam Villa Garden: Cape of Good Hope or Ascendant Tree

English Name: Cape of Good Hope or Ascendant Tree

Scientific Name: Dracaena Fragrans

Family: Asparagaceae

Thai Name: ต้นวาสนา

Native in: Angola, Mozambique, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines

Dracaena fragrans (cornstalk dracaena), is a flowering plant species that is native throughout 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. It is also known as striped dracaena, compact dracaena, and corn plant.

Dracaena fragrans is a slow growing shrub, usually multistemmed at the base, mature specimens reaching 15 m (49 ft) or more tall with a narrow crown of usually slender erect branches. Stems may reach up to 30 cm (12 in) diameter on old plants; in forest habitats they may become horizontal with erect side branches. Young plants have a single unbranched stem with a rosette of leaves until the growing tip flowers or is damaged, after which it branches, producing two or more new stems; thereafter, branching increases with subsequent flowering episodes.

The leaves are glossy green, lanceolate, 20–150 cm (7.9–59.1 in) long and 2–12 cm (0.79–4.72 in) wide; small leaves are erect to spreading, and larger leaves usually drooping under their weight. The flowers are produced in panicles 15–160 cm (5.9–63.0 in) long, the individual flowers are 2.5 cm (0.98 in) diameter, with a six-lobed corolla, pink at first, opening white with a fine red or purple central line on each of the 7–12 mm (0.28–0.47 in) lobes; they are highly fragrant, and popular with pollinating insects. The fruit is an orange-red berry 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, containing several seeds.

Benefits

1. Best Air Purifying Houseplant - Plants remove these pollutants from the air, and one of the most effective among them is dracaena. It can reduce indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethylene, and carbon dioxide.

2. It Increases Concentration and Sharpens Focus - It is found in a study conducted by The Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester (England) that students were more attentive in the class (70 percent) with plants around.

3. It Increases Humidity - What most of us don’t know is that plants also release moisture in the air during this process. Around 97 percentile of the water plants consume, they release.

4. Great Ornamental Value - Dracaenas have long been gardener’s favorite for their ornamental value. Straight long leaves of any of the dracaena varieties inevitably create a striking image wherever you place them. The bushy young plants are perfect for tabletops or desks.

5. Low-Maintenance - There isn’t anything that can go wrong with dracaenas as they are very forgiving. Tolerating a wide variety of conditions makes them so common and sought after. They don’t require much watering and are adaptable to low-light conditions. Plus, when it comes to fertilization, two-three times in a year will suffice. We also added them to our list of plants that can grow without direct sunlight.

6. Dracaena Absorbs Lead (Pb) - While there are not many studies available to claim this, one Indonesian study talks about using Dracaena marginata plants as an absorbent of lead pollutants.