Dracaena surculosa, called the gold dust dracaena and spotted dracaena, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to west and west-central tropical Africa, from Guinea to the Republic of the Congo.[1] [2] Its cultivar 'Florida Beauty' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[3]
The following varieties are accepted:[2]
A branched shrub or small tree that commonly grows less than 4 m in height but occasionally reaches 8 m, it has reddish brown tuberous roots that sometimes produce canelike shoots that are sometimes clad in thin greenish to white phrophylls.[4] Leaves are concolorous or variageted, glossy bright to dark green above and sometimes infused with white to yellowish dots; they are arranged in pseudowhorls with margins that are sometimes rough or smooth, apex is acuminate and base is cunneate. Leaflets can reach up to 20 cm long and 7 cm wide and are elliptic in outline. Flowers are greenish to white. Fruits is orange to bright red in colour, globose and up to 2 cm in diameter.
Occurs naturally in West Africa from Guinea westwards to Cameroon.[5]
Commonly cultivated in botanical gardens and used as an ornamental plant.