| Dracaena surculosa | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Habit | |
| | |
| Close-up of flower | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Asparagaceae |
| Subfamily: | Nolinoideae |
| Genus: | Dracaena |
| Species: | D. surculosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Dracaena surculosa | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
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. [2] [1] Its cultivar 'Florida Beauty' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [3]
The following varieties are accepted: [1]
A branched shrub or small tree that commonly grows less than 4 m in height but occasionally reaches 8 m, it has reddish brown tuberous roots that sometimes produce canelike shoots that are sometimes clad in thin greenish to white phrophylls. [4] Leaves are concolorous or variegated, glossy bright to dark green above and sometimes infused with white to yellowish dots; they are arranged in pseudowhorls with margins that are sometimes rough or smooth, apex is acuminate and base is cunneate. [4] Leaflets can reach up to 20 cm long and 7 cm wide and are elliptic in outline. Flowers are greenish to white. Fruits is orange to bright red in colour, globose and up to 2 cm in diameter. [4]
Occurs naturally in West Africa from Guinea westwards to Cameroon. [5]
Commonly cultivated in botanical gardens and used as an ornamental plant. [5]
Media related to Dracaena surculosa at Wikimedia Commons
Other common names; spotted dracaena