Identification: Tall green houseplant with long solid green leaves

Discussion in 'Indoor and Greenhouse Plants' started by jwhisler79, Nov 13, 2012.

  1. jwhisler79

    jwhisler79 Member

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    Location:
    Nashville, TN USA
    Please help identify this tall houseplant with long green leaves

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    I received this houseplant two to three years ago. At that time it was just a single stem with no leaves. Now this plant is 3.5 foot tall at least and has four stems. My first question is "Can anyone identify this plant?". My second question is "Can the plant be separated into four plants?". My concern is this pot is too small for all of these stems.

    Background. I keep this plant away from drafts and close to filtered light in the winter. During the summer this plant is outside in my flowerbed (in its pot). I keep it up against the house where the overhang of the porch keeps it from getting too much rain/sun. During the summer it is facing West.

    Pictures. The first is the top of the plant. The second is of a single leaf. The third is the bottom of the pot where the oldest stem stands. The stem in the front is a new stem. The original stem is brown and is behind the other one.
     

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  2. robyn

    robyn Active Member 10 Years

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    Looks like a Dracaena species. You can't divide it due to the woody stem, but it should take from root cuttings if you use a new, non-woody shoot.
     
  3. mrsubjunctive

    mrsubjunctive Active Member

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    Location:
    Iowa, United States
    Cordyline glauca.

    The number of stems don't automatically have anything to do with whether the pot is too big. I mean, go by how packed with roots the soil is, not by what you see above ground.

    As to whether or not it's dividable, my guess is probably not -- in the third picture, it looks like the new stem is a branch coming from beneath the soil. You could probably cut it off and root it in water if you really want to. (I've had better luck personally with water-rooting than with soil-rooting, for Cordyline, Dracaena, and Yucca varieties. Your results may vary.) There's no compelling reason to do anything though, at least not from what you've presented here.
     

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