Dracaena arborea

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Dracaena arborea
Dracaena arborea - 105.jpg
At the Jardin botanique de Lyon
Dracaena arborea fruits.jpg
Fruit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Dracaena
Species:
D. arborea
Binomial name
Dracaena arborea
Synonyms [1]
List
    • Aletris arboreaWilld.
    • Cordyline arborea(Willd.) Göpp.
    • Dracaena arborea var. baumanniiEngl.
    • Dracaena excelsaTen.
    • Dracaena knerkianaK.Koch
    • Draco arborea(Willd.) Kuntze
    • Pleomele arborea(Willd.) N.E.Br.

Dracaena arborea, the tree dracaena, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to western and west-central wet tropical Africa. [1] It is used as a street tree in a number of African and Brazilian cities. [2]

Contents

Description

A medium sized tree often reaching 20 m in height, sometimes up to 30, width up to 30 cm in diameter, the stem tend to be yellowish brown when young but greyish when mature. [3] Leaves commonly exceed 40 cm in length, sometimes reaching up to 150 cm, and width often exceeds 4 cm reaching up to 10 cm in width; leaves are narrowly oblanceolate in outline. [3] Inflorescence arranged in pendulous panicles, flowers bunched in groups of 3 to 5 and at the end of branches. [3]

Uses

Draceena arborea is often planted around burial sites to demarcate boundaries in parts of Cameroon and Burundi and is also planted for ornamental uses. [3] A decoction composed of root extracts of the species mixed with palm wine is used to improve male sexual function in parts of Cameroon. [4]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Dracaena</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Moringa oleifera</i> Species of flowering tree

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<i>Ancistrocladus</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Acacia elata</i> Species of legume

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<i>Afzelia africana</i> Species of legume

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<i>Dracaena fragrans</i> Species of flowering plant

Dracaena fragrans, 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.

<i>Dracaena cinnabari</i> Species of plant

Dracaena cinnabari, the Socotra dragon tree or dragon blood tree, is a dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago, part of Yemen, located in the Arabian Sea. It is named after the blood-like color of the red sap that the trees produce. It is considered the national tree of Yemen.

<i>Distemonanthus</i> Genus of legumes

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<i>Mimusops caffra</i> Species of tree

Mimusops caffra is a species of tree in family Sapotaceae. This tree is found in coastal dune vegetation in Southern Africa from the Eastern Cape, through KwaZulu-Natal to southern Mozambique.

<i>Dracaena mannii</i> Species of flowering plant

Dracaena mannii Baker or small-leaved dragon tree, is a small to medium-sized tree, though recorded up to 30 m tall with stem to 2 m in diameter in Cameroon and Gabon. It occurs from Senegal to Angola along the African west coast, is widespread in tropical Africa and is found along the African east coast from Kenya to Kosi Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal. It prefers lowland, submontane and montane forests which are either moist and evergreen, swampy or on coastal dunes. It is also found along forest edges, in clearings and on river banks from sea level to 1,800 metres. It is one of some 120 species currently recognised in its genus, which occur primarily in Africa and southern Asia with a single vagrant species in Central America. The species is named after Gustav Mann (1836–1916), a German botanist, who corresponded with John Gilbert Baker.

<i>Gilbertiodendron dewevrei</i> Species of legume

Gilbertiodendron dewevrei is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical rain forests in Central Africa. It is often the dominant tree species of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest. The timber is traded as limbali, and is used for construction, flooring and railway sleepers. It is also used for making boats, furniture, tool handles and joinery and for making charcoal.

Vitex thyrsiflora is a species of woody vine in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to tropical West and Central Africa. Its hollow stem is used as a home by an aggressive species of ant.

<i>Dracaena surculosa</i> Species of plant in the genus Dracaena

Dracaena surculosa, called the gold dust dracaena and spotted dracaena, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to west and west-central tropical Africa, from Guinea to the Republic of the Congo. Its cultivar 'Florida Beauty' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Bridelia grandis is an evergreen tree within the Euphorbiaceae family, it occurs in secondary forests of Central and West Africa. Its wood is traded under the name Assas, a name it shares with Bridelia micrantha.

Gambeya africana is a medium sized tree within the Sapotaceae family. It is sometimes known as the African Star Apple along with the closely related Gambeya albida. Both species have similar leaf indumentum and are widespread in the Lower and Upper Guinea forest mosaic.

Entandrophragma angolense, called the tiama, is a tree species with alternate, pinnately compound leaves that are clustered at the ends of branches. It is within the family Meliaceae and has a wide distribution area, occurring in moist semi-deciduous and evergreen forest regions of Tropical Africa from Sierra Leone to Uganda.

Dracaena viridiflora is a shrub or small plant belonging to the family Asparagaceae.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dracaena arborea (Willd.) Link". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  2. Ossola, Alessandro; Hoeppner, Malin J.; Burley, Hugh M.; Gallagher, Rachael V.; Beaumont, Linda J.; Leishman, Michelle R. (2020). "The Global Urban Tree Inventory: A database of the diverse tree flora that inhabits the world's cities". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 29 (11): 1907–1914. doi:10.1111/geb.13169. S2CID   225429443.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bos, J.J. (1984). Dracaena in West Africa (PhD thesis). Wageningen University.
  4. Wankeu‐Nya, Modeste; Watcho, Pierre; Deeh Defo, Patrick B.; Ngadjui, Esther; Nguelefack, Telesphore B.; Kamtchouing, Pierre; Kamanyi, Albert (2019). "Aqueous and ethanol extracts of Dracaena arborea (Wild) Link (Dracaenaceae) alleviate reproductive complications of diabetes mellitus in rats". Andrologia. 51 (10). doi: 10.1111/and.13381 . ISSN   0303-4569.