Dracaena

Morphological Summary

Large genus of plants in the family Asparagaceae (subfamily Nolinoideae) including more than 120 species of trees, shrubs, and rosulate plants distributed across Africa, tropical Asia, Pacific islands, and the Canary Islands. Dracaenas are famous for their red resin known as "dragon's blood", produced especially by D. draco and D. cinnabari, used for centuries in varnishes, dyes, incenses, and medicine. The genus harbours some of the most long-lived and architecturally unique arboreal forms in the plant kingdom: D. draco can live for more than 1,000 years. It also includes numerous ornamental indoor species (D. fragrans, D. marginata, D. trifasciata) very common in worldwide domestic gardening.