Identification Help: Need plant ID & seed propagation reccomendations

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

Have never been able to ID. I call it my Dr. Seuss plant as it looks like something Dr. Seuss would have dreamed up. Indoor plant is about 7 years old, 6 ft tall, 3 ft wide. This spring, for the 1st time it flowered. Small white blossoms, very sticky, turned into yellow and now orange fruit/seeds, 1/2" in diameter, still sticky. I am a novice and need suggestions to successfully germinate seeds.

[Ginger Blue]

Wow, I'm impressed! I've never seen these flower, much less produce a fruit! I believe it's a Dracaena godseffiana. Commonly available is a cultivar called 'Gold Dust', but I've never seen it get as big as your plant.

[Rima]

Are you sure it's not some kind of citrus?

[Marn]

Originally Posted by Ginger Blue

Wow, I'm impressed! I've never seen these flower, much less produce a fruit! I believe it's a Dracaena godseffiana. Commonly available is a cultivar called 'Gold Dust', but I've never seen it get as big as your plant.

the Gold Dust is the Croton .. the Dracaena godseffiana is the Florida Beauty .. and it does look like the Florida beauty but the info i have says it does not flower..

http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/html/FlBeauty.htm

Marion

[Ginger Blue]

Yes, Marion, you're right. Gold Dust is the croton. But interestingly (and probably due to the same brain bobble I had), the term Gold Dust is also commonly used for the dracaena as well.

And it may not be the Florida Beauty...perhaps it's not a cultivar and it instead a species and therefore it's flowering. Who knows.

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

WOW! I am so excited. Thank you for all of your help in identifying this plant. I am most grateful. Yes, I do believe you are right it is the dracaena godseffiana after following up online. It looks just like the photos except much bigger. And it has the strange wiry-looking branches as noted. While following up online I found a photo of the flower I want to share. The flowers were so small it was hard to even see them. Thank you very much Ginger! Now I just need to figure how to succesfully propagate the seeds.

[judymellin]

I have a dracaena Florida beauty that has bloomed twice with the tiny unassuming flowers shown in these photos. Now, however, the plant- which is about 4' tall and
60" around- is putting on a show! There are over a dozen bloom stems that are 3" longer or more and the flowers are just opening. I hope I'm lucky enough to get seed pods as shown here!

At the same time that it is blooming, it is also sending up new shoots almost daily. It sits in front of a southeast facing window and has done extremely well. I tried moving it to another location where the light was lower and it let me know right away that it was unhappy by dropping some of its lower leaves. I have thought about repotting it into a 12" pot from the 10" now as it is becoming pot-bound but wonder if that's what's making it do so well? I hate to upset a good thing!

[Nandan Kalbag]

Here, in tropical India, flowering of Dracaena godseffiana is very common. Normally they bloom in months from March to September. Flowers remain fresh for a week. Every night they give excellent scent.

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

I started this thread last year. It's nice to read your posts. Thank you. To update - my Dracaena godseffiana is now almost 8 feet tall, still about 3 feet wide. Sadly, no blooms appeared this year. When the blooms did appear last year, they were only about an inch long and not very full. I did try to plant/germinate the orange seeds last year but was unable to get one to sprout. The pot is 10 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter. My plant is in front of a south window with heavy sunscreens on a window that looks out onto a covered patio in Phoenix, Arizona. It is so dry and hot here that I've got to really watch any plant by any window in my house - even with the super-duper sunscreens. That's probably why they don't sell this plant in Arizona. I've only seen it on sale once (when I bought it) in the 24 years I've lived out here. I'm happy I haven't killed it! Thanks again to each of you

[Nandan Kalbag]

Try soaking the seeds in warm water overnight. Since the have hard shells they may take longer to sprout. Also sow the seeds in a sunny place. Warmth of sunlight too helps seeds to germinate fast.

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

Thank you for your insight Nandan. Unfortnately, I tried the method you suggested last year but the seeds did not germinate. Bad luck. How tall do the godseffiana grow in India? Are they grown outdoors or indoors?

[judymellin]

Hi- While I have lots of indoor plants, I also volunteer on a natural-areas restoration site where we have been working since 1989 to turn 600 acres of woodland, wetland and grassland back to its biota that existed before the settlers arrived here in Illinois. That's a long explanation for the recommendation I'd like to make for pulpy seed pods like these.

We let the pods dry either on the stems or on a drying rack. Many of the seeds will not ripen unless the pulp has dried. I hope I get fruit from my dracaena this year so I can see if that works for tropicals, too. With all the long bloom stems, I should get one or two but I never would have had any idea that fruit could be produced until I found this site on a google.com search.

Thanks!

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

Wow Judy,
That's fascinating. I'm excited for you! I tied to germinate the seeds from different stages of dryness but perhaps I didn't let the pulp dry enough/completely. I will be very interested to hear of your results.

[Nandan Kalbag]

Hi Susan,
Here in India the plant grows to about 90 cm tall. These plants love humid climate. So if they are planted in a bed/pot near the lawn or group of other plants, they thrive well in full sunlight. However, if kept in isolation, they prefer semi shade.

[Susan Phoenix AZ]

Thank you Nandan. Your information is very interesting. My plant is 86 inches tall which would be 215 cm.