In 1496, Alonso de Lugo, a Spanish conquistador, was given the job of locating and slaying "the Dragon of Orotava," a sea monster believed to be responsible for the loss of several Spanish ships sailing close to the Canary Islands.
De Lugo never found the dragon, of course. But on the island of Tenerife, he did discover what was then thought to be the oldest tree on the planet.
The tree that de Lugo discovered while searching for the dragon was estimated to be 10,000 years old, and besides being 60 feet tall with 18-foot leaves, it was simply a common dracaena —plants typically grown today as house plants.
The dracaenas I've seen —even 35-year-old specimens —have never been more than six feet tall or had leaves longer than two feet. Even my 25-year-old dracaena, a "Dracaena draco," is barely six feet tall.
Still, and even though I won't be around to see how it's doing 10,000 years from now, I do expect it to live at least as long as I do.
Dracaenas are frost-tender and long-lived trees that are native to the tropics and belong to the lily family of plants.
They're also commonly mistaken for palm trees, since they slowly lose their silver-green leaves from the bottom up, revealing a long and slender stem similar to a corn stalk. In fact, one common name for these plants is "corn plant."
I grow our dracaena in bright, indirect light and at room temperature. I also let its soil thoroughly dry before I water it.
In the mean time, and although having a dracaena in our home is no real substitute for being in the tropics, at least being in the same room with one can sometimes be the next best thing —especially during a cold, winter day.
This week in the garden
This is a great time of year to shop for new house plants. The plants, as well as their supplies, are presently on sale. Another good reason to purchase house plants now is because they'll benefit from the extra daylight they'll receive as the days get progressively longer.
When shopping for house plants, I select young specimens, because they more easily acclimate to changes in light and humidity from where they were growing to where they will be growing.
Even so, it's important to provide all plants with optimal growing conditions.
So always research a new plant's needs before you purchase it.