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Species library › Dracaena › Dracaena steudneri
Other Little published: much of this is inferred from related species

Dracaena steudneri

Northern large-leaved dragon tree

A large-leaved tree dracaena of Afromontane and other forests from Ethiopia to southern tropical Africa, also called Steudner's dragon tree. Young plants make handsome indoor foliage plants with big, strap-shaped leaves on a thick stem. The name has been wrongly applied to the common houseplant Dracaena fragrans, so check what you have.

Dracaena steudneri
Photo: Ton Rulkens from Mozambique, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

A tree of forest, forest margins and Afromontane forest in eastern and south-tropical Africa. Young plants grow in the forest understory and adults reach the subcanopy or grow at margins. Its leaf fibre has been studied as an industrial fibre, and it is a food plant for larvae of the bush nightfighter (Artitropa erinnys).

Grows at a range of elevations in Afromontane forest; the sources we opened give no figures.

EthiopiaEast Tropical AfricaSouth Tropical Africa

🔒 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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More Dracaena

Dracaena trifasciata Dracaena fragrans Dracaena cinnabari Dracaena draco Dracaena reflexa Dracaena pinguicula Dracaena halapepe Dracaena sanderiana Dracaena angolensis Dracaena mannii Dracaena tamaranae Dracaena aletriformis All 237 →

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 2.0 licence, unmodified.