Dracaena arborea | |
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At the Jardin botanique de Lyon | |
Fruit | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Asparagaceae |
Subfamily: | Nolinoideae |
Genus: | Dracaena |
Species: | D. arborea
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Binomial name | |
Dracaena arborea | |
Synonyms[1] | |
List
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Dracaena arborea, the tree dracaena, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to western and west-central wet tropical Africa.[1] It is used as a street tree in a number of African and Brazilian cities.[2]
A medium sized tree often reaching 20 m in height, sometimes up to 30, width up to 30 cm in diameter, the stem tend to be yellowish brown when young but greyish when mature.[3] Leaves commonly exceed 40 cm in length, sometimes reaching up to 150 cm, and width often exceeds 4 cm reaching up to 10 cm in width; leaves are narrowly oblanceolate in outline.[3] Inflorescence arranged in pendulous panicles, flowers bunched in groups of 3 to 5 and at the end of branches.[3]
Draceena arborea is often planted around burial sites to demarcate boundaries in parts of Cameroon and Burundi and is also planted for ornamental uses.[3] A decoction composed of root extracts of the species mixed with palm wine is used to improve male sexual function in parts of Cameroon.[4]