Dracaena fragrans(L.) Ker Gawl.

fragrant dracaena

WFO wfo-0000765769 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Maria Janeiro
fig. a Maria Janeiro, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-01 / obs. 192912624
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. b Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 183102168
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. c Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 182987012
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Ong Jyh Seng
fig. d Ong Jyh Seng, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 129961240
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Elías Torres Arroyo
fig. e Elías Torres Arroyo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 108934317
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Elías Torres Arroyo
fig. f Elías Torres Arroyo, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 108931662
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by Henggang Cui
fig. g Henggang Cui, CC0 1.0 / obs. 61501219
Dracaena fragrans, photographed by alessandradalia
fig. h alessandradalia, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 38358820

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 26 botanical countries

Regions where Dracaena fragrans is native: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe AngolaBeninCameroonCentral African RepublicCongoDR CongoEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGambiaGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaLiberiaMalawiMozambiqueNigeriaRwandaSierra LeoneSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTogoUgandaZambiaZimbabwe
Native distribution of Dracaena fragrans, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Cameroon CMN
Central African Republic CAF
Congo CON
DR Congo ZAI
Equatorial Guinea EQG
Ethiopia ETH
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
Liberia LBR
Malawi MLW
Mozambique MOZ
Nigeria NGA
Rwanda RWA
Sierra Leone SIE
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Togo TOG
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 29 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Aletris fragrans L.
  • Aloe fragrantissima Jacq.
  • Cordyline fragrans (L.) Planch.
  • Dracaena albanensis Sander ex Mast.
  • Dracaena aureolus W.Bull ex Mast.
  • Dracaena broomfieldii Sander ex Mast.
  • Dracaena broomfieldii var. superba Sander ex Mast.
  • Dracaena butayei De Wild.
  • Dracaena deisteliana Engl.
  • Dracaena deremensis Engl.
  • Dracaena deremensis var. warneckei Engl.
  • Dracaena ensifolia var. greigii Regel
  • Dracaena fragrans f. wacheana Wacha ex Siebert
  • Dracaena fragrans var. massangeana (Rodigas) E.Morren
  • Dracaena fragrans var. victoria (W.Bull) O.F.Cook
  • Dracaena janssensii Mast.
  • Dracaena latifolia f. rothiana Siebert
  • Dracaena lindenii Linden ex André
  • Dracaena massangeana hort. ex É.Morren
  • Dracaena smithii Baker ex Hook.f.
  • Dracaena steudneri var. kilimandscharica Engl.
  • Dracaena ugandensis Baker
  • Dracaena victoria W.Bull
  • Draco fragrans (L.) Kuntze

and 5 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.