Dracaena reflexa, commonly called Pleomele or the Song of India,
Dracaena reflexa is a popular ornamental plant, both in the landscape and the home. It can be enjoyed as a specimen plant, accent, or pruned to create a border. Several cultivars have been selected, particularly variegated clones with cream and yellow-green margins. It performs well as a houseplant, tolerating infrequent waterings. It prefers bright, filtered light, without direct sun exposure, restricted outdoors to zones 10–11. It has average water needs and should be fertilizedbi-weekly when actively growing. Although it can survive in relatively low light levels, the plant may grow spindly if given insufficient light. When grown indoors, temperatures of 18 °C to 25 °C (64 °F to 77 °F) should be maintained. It can be propagated via herbaceous stem cuttings.
Traditional medicine practitioners of Madagascar have long believed Dracaena reflexa to curemalarial symptoms, poisoning, dysentery, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, and to be useful as anantipyretic and hemostatic agent. The leaves and bark are mixed with parts of a number of other native plants and mixed into tisanes. Its effectiveness in any such treatment remains unproven.[4]
The fruit of D. reflexa is also important to the diet of the Malagasy Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur(Varecia variegata variegata).[5] The Frégate beetle (Polposipus herculeanus), an endangered species endemic to Frégate Island (Seychelles), is also known to associate with this plant.[6]
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