This plant is one that many readers will be familiar with as many of the Dracaenas from other parts of Africa and the world are grown as pot plants or used in tropical plantings throughout the country.
Growing up on the Natal coast this is one of the many plants that left an impression on me especially in the dune bush that clad the coastline where I grew up.
I first encountered it as a plant associated with the Natal Robin. This was one of the first birds I learnt and many of the nests that I found of this species were built in this dragon tree. The nest being put in the region where the green leaves were beginning to die off. I presume this was to make the nest that was constructed of dried plant material more camouflaged and thus less visible to the nest predators of the hapless robin.
The broad stiff strap-shaped leaves are produced terminally or at the end of the usually single stem. This plant is usually between two to three metres tall however I knew of one about eight metres high in the street where I live. But alas new owners moved in and the plant was chopped down. The leaves arch up and then down to make this plant a fine form and texture plant. If you live in the Grahamstown area there is a form of this species with exceptionally narrow leaves that makes a great garden and container plant subject. Find plants and grow this form from seed or stem cuttings the other method of propagating this plant.
Planting it in large groupings is the best way to use this species in the landscape. It makes an ideal pot plant because it can tolerate low light intensities and even a high degree of air conditioning. The white to greenish coloured flowers are produced on a terminal spike and are quite insignificant to look at but the delightful sweet scent at night is quite stunning. In my garden at least two species of hawkmoth visit the flowers and obviously do their thing as in about a month little green berries appear and in another month the berries change colour to a bright orange. The fleshy outer covering is enjoyed by birds and monkeys. Within another month the seeds germinate, to leave me with many baby dragons like the teeth of the mythical dragon! The young plants given the correct shady and generally moist conditions of my garden will produce their first flowers in the third or fourth season from germination.
The easiest way of propagating dracaenas is to collect the orange seeds, clean off the flesh and sow immediately in a damp humus rich well drained soil. The seeds will germinate after about three weeks. They will grow rapidly if well cared for and if they get fed at regular intervals with some liquid fertiliser. The roots of many dragon trees are a beautiful orange colour and give off a sharp odour if damaged in any way. The famous Canary Island dragon tree (Dracaena draco) has a dark reddish coloured sap that is exuded if the tree is damaged hence, the name dragons blood. This resinous sap in the past before the invention of synthetic dyes was an important basic constituent in the manufacture of fine paints and dyes.

Another piece of useless information is that a skipper butterfly which goes under the delightful name of the bush nightfighter (Artitropa erinnys) uses Dracaenas as its larval host plant. The larvae also wrap themselves in the leaves of this plant by pulling a section of the leaf over themselves when they are ready to pupate. These butterflies also fly at dusk and look like very fast moths when they are darting about the dragon trees in my garden. Another good reason to plant this plant in your piece of Africa even if it is only a potplant in your office!!