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Species library › Dracaena › Dracaena cristula
Other Partly documented

Dracaena cristula

A Dracaena of the Upper Guinea forests, from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Ghana, sometimes seen under the synonym Dracaena elliotii. It was introduced to cultivation by William Bull in the 1870s; in the wild it grows in forest shade, and its range has a real dry season from December to February.

Dracaena cristula
Photo: Dracaenaworldwide, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

Understorey of moist forest and gallery forest in the Upper Guinea region, inferred from its range; the records used carry little habitat detail.

Recorded at 80–1,400 m, median about 700 m.

GhanaGuineaIvory CoastLiberiaSierra Leone

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.