Identification Help: Belgian Evergreen or Lucky Bamboo?

[Linda in London]

Something I keep running into when I attempt to research the background of the 'lucky bamboo' plant is problems with the Latin name.
My copy of 'Success with House Plants', (copyright 1979, The Readers' Digest Association, Inc.), on page 182, describes 'Dracaena Sanderana', or Belgian Evergreen, as "...(often wrongly called D. Sanderiana), is a slender, erect shrub with stiff leaves 9 inches long and 1 inch wide, arranged openly around a stem that may branch, though only rarely. Leaf color is deep green with broad, white margins. Branching, if it occurs, is from low down on the stem..." The bold type is mine.
The pictures of Belgian Evergreens are of rather leafy, almost bushy plants lacking bare stems.
Yet, I have seen instances where Lucky Bamboo, a plant that by no means has the same growth pattern as the Belgain Evergreen and has a good length of naked stem, to be referred to as both Dracaena Sanderana and Dracaena Sanderiana.
Which is correct? Or, if neither, does anyone know what is?

[Rima]

There are many types of Dracaena, and the upright stem with the funky hair-do is only one of them, but the variety used for L. bamboo IS a dracaena - possibly marginata.

[wrygrass]

GRIN lists Belgian Evergreen and Lucky Bamboo as common names for Dracaena sanderiana. D. sanderana is not listed. The plant that has leaves with white edges is probably D. marginata and probably not Lucky Bamboo or Belgian Evergreen. Harry

[Junglekeeper]

There are at least two forms of Dracaena sanderiana in my area. One is all green and the other has a wide, creamy-white leaf margin. Contrast with D. marginata which has a narrow red leaf margin.

[Linda in London]

Lucky Bamboo has a growth pattern where much of the stem is naked with a few comparitavely short leaves at the top. Belgian Evergreen has a growth pattern of rather large alternating leaves that grow up of most of the stem. Plus, Belgian Evergreen is Dracaena Sanderana, not Sanderiana, but does that make Lucky Bamboo Dracaena Sanderiana. In other words, does that make Lucky Bamboo the species with which Belgian Evergreen is frequently confused?

I tend to collect dracaenas. I've had a D. Marginata 'Tricolor', but it died on me after about 10 years. I currently have a D. Marginata, a D. Deremensis, a D. Fragrans plus a Cordyline Australis someone gave me thinking it was going to stay small. All of the above dracaenas have similar growth patterns. Those that regularly drop their leaves do so leaving angled marks on the stem. Only the Lucky Bamboo leaves almost perfectly horizonal marks.

You see my problem? Anyone studying genetics?

[Michael F]

On the spelling, "sanderana" is just an old spelling variant of sanderiana (a result of misunderstood Latin grammar).

Note that species names are always correctly lower case (i.e., Dracaena sanderiana, D. marginata, not Dracaena Sanderiana or D. Marginata) - a book that capitalises them can't really be trusted.

[Linda in London]

I tend to ignore such minor things since I've seen Latin errors come from respected specialists in various fields with lists of letters after their names as long as one's arm. The capitals were mine to try and make my point clear.
My real argument is the fact that Lucky Bamboo does not resemble any other dracaena I've ever come in close contact with. I'm not saying it's not a dracaena, but it certainly isn't a Belgian Evergreen. If it's a sub-species, the Latin should reflect that. The most I can get on this from growers' websites is some very confused information.