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By Balcony

Cambs, United Kingdom Gb

Can anyone identify this plant? It's been growing in our living room for at least 4 years, maybe longer. Last year I found a similar plant, much smaller of course, at a garden centre & wrote down the name but than I lost it. I thought it was a Cordyline but it doesn't look like any of the pictures in my RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.



Plant_in_living_room__cordyline__2010-03-05

Answers

 

It's Dracaena marginata, but with a bent and gnarly stem. People often chop these as they grow so that the plant forms several spur stems with growth at the ends. The shadow/light effect from the blind makes it look really interesting!

13 Mar, 2010

 

Thank you very much, Bamboo.

I looked it up in my RHS Encyclopedia & the description fits the plant perfectly, but I wish it looked more like the one in the book though!

13 Mar, 2010

 

Well if you're feeling brave, you can cut it down, you know - take it back to where the stem is straight, preferably with a tuft of growth protruding. Then cut off the top tuft of growth with the growing tip, stick it in a bottle with water on the windowsill, so that the growth is supported but the bottom is in the water, keep the water topped up - it'll root in about 4/6 weeks, pot it up and let it grow. I did one 2 years ago because mine got bent out of shape as well.

14 Mar, 2010

 

Thanks Bamboo. I had thought of air layering it as Richard has done with his Schefflera. It's got twisted somewhat because I've turned it around on several occasions as it was trying to make a run for it out the window! I had expected the stem to straighten out but it didn't it just turned back on itself!

14 Mar, 2010

How do I say thanks?

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