Poor plant
My poor Massangeana is suffering when I'm not at my office. I wonder what to do, when I'm having classes again?
My poor Massangeana is suffering when I'm not at my office. I wonder what to do, when I'm having classes again?
The very popular Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana' is more commonly known as the Corn Plant. It does well in low light conditions and its wide leaves are long and arc gracefully from the stalk. Fragrans can be either grown as a low shrub form, by rooting tip cuttings, or a tree form, by rooting mature canes.
Dracaena marginata commonly called Red-edge Dracaena or Madagascar dragon tree, and can grow to 15 feet in height, supported by a long, slender truck or "cane".
Its foliage is a near vertical to horizontal mass of narrow pointed green leaves with red to purple stripes along the outer edge. As new leaves emerge from the top, the mature leaves on the bottom drop away.
Dracaena is a genus of about 40 species of trees and succulent shrubs in the family Ruscaceae
I justed noticed that the marginata is slowly getting dirty. This might be due to the superb air filtering qualities of the plant. The result is that all the dirt in our office air settles down on the leaves.
They are still quite pleasant. Their soil is a bit damp, so I'm not going to water them today and the Massangeana seems to be a bit disgruntled about being near the fan.
The Nature Conservation League Ebermannstadt has an interesting information about the ability of the Dracaenas to filter air:
[Die Marginata] ist ein wirkungsvoller Luftreiniger, vorallem absorbiert Sie Xylol und Trichlorethylene, somit Stoffe die vorallem von elektronischen Geräten ausgehen.
[The Marginata] is a powerful air cleaner, especially when it comes to absorbing Xylol and Trichlorethylene. These substances are usually emitted be electrical appliances.