Dracaena trifasciata

My sword is bigger than yours.

Dracaena trifasciata have long been popular plants for beginners. They can handle low light, barely need any water, and look good no matter how you treat them. But these sword-like leaves are so much more than just hardy house plants. Dracaena comes from the Greek for “female dragon” and trifasciata means “three bundles” in Latin¹. Three bundles of what? I don’t know. I couldn’t find the answer in a cursory search and there were much more interesting rabbit holes to pursue.

For example, in Brazil the plant is known as St. George’s Sword and is grown outdoors to keep evil away from homes². St. George is venerated for slaying a dragon and rescuing a princess, your classic Lancelot-type of fellow. Dracaena trifasciatas do have very sword-like leaves that grow in thick blades up to six feet tall in the wild. Two to three feet is more likely in containers, but that’s still an impressive height. Here is one of my Dracaena trifasciatas. This one is still small and is the standard variety.

I disturbed this beautiful Steatoda triangulosa while dusting, but she was very graceful about it and still posed for a pic.

The plant’s tough, flat leaves have also earned it the monikers snake plant and mother-in-law’s tongue (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about that last one). In Africa it is known as viper’s bowstring hemp as it can be used as fiber for bowstrings and other cordage. Making fiber from the plant is apparently quite simple. The leaves are soaked in water until they break down and then the fiber is dried in the sun.³ Dracaena trifasciata grows well outside of its natural habitat and is considered invasive and noxious in Florida and Brazil.

Native to West and West Central Africa, the plant is used widely in folk medicine and is also considered effective in warding off evil and witchcraft. Yellow edged varieties, like the Dracaena trifasciata ‘Laurentii’, are associated with Ọya, a female storm spirit, who is celebrated in several religions, including the Yoruba religion in Africa and in Brazilian Umbanda.⁴

In folk medicine it is used to treat ear-ache, ulcer, jaundice, pharyngitis, skin itches, urinary diseases. It is also a known analgesic and antipyretic. Studies have supported the plant’s folk medicine uses as well as its use in fighting alopecia, E. coli, and staph infections. Studies have also negated the reported toxicity of the plant.⁵ ⁶ That said, I personally err on the side of caution, so I’ll mention that the plant does have saponins which can give pets a tummy ache, so keep that in mind if you have fur babies who are prone to nibbling and want to acquire a Dracaena trifasciata.

I won’t go into this too much here because it makes more sense to tackle it later when we talk about cacti, but one of the reasons Dracaena trifasciata is so draught resistant is its reliance on what is called CAM photosynthesis. All plants have stomata on their leaves that act as little mouths, breathing in CO2 and dribbling out water. OK, maybe not dribbling, it’s more like letting water evaporate, but the point is that in a plant native to a dry environment, letting water escape through stomata is not ideal. CAM photosynthesis is perfect for plants in dry climates because it allows them to only open their stomata at night, when evaporation is less of a risk. There’s a whole lot more to it than that, but as I said, we’ll delve into it later. I will leave you with this, my favorite GIF of a stomata opening and closing:)

I’ll also leave you with a picture of my Dracaena trifasciata ‘Moonlight’ who did not get dusted for her picture because I saw a weird spiderling crawling on her yesterday. Don’t want to disturb the locals before I even know who they are.

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1. https://www.kew.org/plants/snake-plant

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena

3. https://www.ijsr.net/archive/v4i7/SUB157084.pdf

4. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena\_trifasciata]

5. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5429084/]

6. https://www.irjmets.com/uploadedfiles/paper//issue_12_december_2023/47498/final/fin_irjmets1703006589.pdf