Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans) is ubiquitous in the interiorscaping of hospitals, hotels, and other public buildings because it’s big, bold, and beautiful. It’s extremely easy to grow well, and it tolerates a wide range of light, temperature, and water conditions. Its forgiving, low-maintenance nature and ability to rid indoor air of pollutants make it extremely popular in the home as well. Indoors, corn plant is usually slow-growing and handsome, with two or three slender trunks and a swirling rosette of evergreen foliage at the top. You’ll rarely see it more than 8 feet tall as a houseplant. The leaves are usually 18 to 24 inches long, strap-shaped, and glossy. The wild form of the plant has leaves that are uniformly bright green, but numerous cultivars are avail- able with leaves striped in chartreuse or white. Corn plant rarely flowers as a houseplant, but if it ever does you may not notice the flowers at first because they’re not very showy. The flowers are borne in long, branched clusters of under- whelming, 1-inch-wide blossoms with skinny petals. The best thing about the flowers, by far, is the fragrance—a strong, lovely perfume.

OPTIMUM HOUSEHOLD ENVIRONMENT

Read the Introduction for the specifics of each recommendation.

MEDIUM LIGHT.

Corn plant performs at its very best with a half-day of full sun from an east or west window. It endures the high light of full sun from a south window or the low light (permanent shade) of a north window; how- ever, it cannot reach its full potential under those conditions.

LOW TEMPERATURE.

Daytime 65 to 75°F, night- time 55 to 65°F.

MODERATE WATER.

Water whenever the top of the potting medium becomes dry to a depth of 1 inch.

COMMON PROBLEMS

Watch for brown leaf tips (page 246), mealybugs (page 262), and root rot (page 272).