Species · genus Dracaena · Asparagaceae

Corn Plant

Dracaena fragrans (L.) Ker Gawl.

Also known as: Fragrant Dracaena · Cornstalk Dracaena · Dracaena 'Janet Craig Compact' · Happy Plant

Growth habit

shrub or tree

Native range

Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Reference · D. fragrans

Cultivars of D. fragrans

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under D. fragrans yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Dracaena fragrans is a woody shrub or small tree from tropical and sub-Saharan Africa, where it grows in the understory and benefits from filtered, bright indirect light rather than harsh direct sun. It tolerates drying between waterings, so water only when the top inch or two of mix has gone dry, letting it approach dry rather than sitting wet. It accepts ordinary household humidity and does not demand misting.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 14 days

Humidity

Medium

Temperature

16–26 °C

Soil mix

Loose, well-draining potting mix

Propagation

Cane cuttings — stem sections root readily

Fertilizing

Light monthly feed in the growing season — sensitive to fluoride and overfeeding

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Fragrant white sprays on mature plants; occasional indoors

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs

Saponins — vomiting (occasionally with blood), depression, anorexia, drooling. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 7-14d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ASPCA

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Corn Plant yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.