Fortune Plant (Dracaena fragrans)

Dracaena fragrans 'Masagaena' in bloom.

Dracaena fragrans is one of the most important houseplants in the United States because of its ability to tolerate low-light environments and low maintenance.  In the Philippines, it is grown both as an indoor or outdoor plant.

This plant is known by so many names and for different reasons. With its broad and elongated leaves that resemble that of corn (Zea maize), Dracaena fragrans is nick-named corn plant or cornstalk plant in this part of the world.  On the other hand, its botanical name indicates a significant olfactory characteristic - "fragrans".  This plant's ability to exude sweet odor outweighs all other characteristics that it is used to universally describe the species of the plant.  With such names we could say that this type of dracaena is a fragrant corn-looking plant.  However, in some countries it is called 'Fortune Plant'. There is a superstition that revolves not just in the Philippines but in the rest of Asia.  If the plant blooms in your care, then good fortunes will abound in the home.  The blooming time seems to be unpredictable that people associate it with the elusive incidence of good luck. :)

Dracaena fragrans is sometimes called Corn Plant.

For me, it is not uncommon to see this plant bloom. My mother had one that bloomed outside her front door year after year.  Everyone who came to our house after dusk knew it was in bloom even if they didn't see the flowers.  Here in my house (in California), there are three potted Dracaena fragrans - one of them is about eight feet tall and the other two are about six feet tall - all of which I've had for years now.  I purchased these plants at different sizes.  It has been my observation that only the mature plants - with a minimum trunk diameter of one inch- showed flowers.  However, not all plants with the same size of trunk bloomed.  One of my plants did not bloom this year even if it has larger trunk than the other two that bloomed.  Therefore, I have to come up with another theory -- that the plant has to be exposed to not one but a combination of critical factors prior to flower initiation. I think the plant blooms when they reach a certain age and accumulated experience.  How to quantify such variables remain unknown to me.  I'm sure there are scientific literature out there that explain this mystery.  But before I find them, I will enjoy the secret belief that my Dracaena fragrans is signaling the arrival of good fortune into my house.  :).
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Dracaena fragrans line a village road in Cagayan,  Philippines.

Traditions, superstitions and beliefs determine the way cultures look at plants.