We have a magnificent tall, bushy plant called a dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone". It took me much searching to find the name of this plant. When I did find it, discovered that the name on its care tag was correct all along!!!! Had thought I had, originally, mixed up some plant tags. The appellation punctulata "Sierra Leone" is important as there are other surculosas that look nothing like this plant. These are the "Gold Dust" or "Florida Beauty" AKA dracaena godseffiana. Turns out my plant is, now, very rare.

This pic was taken four months ago during autumn. It is now spring & it is sending up new shoots.



Close up of the leaf pattern.

This dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone" has quite a history. We bought it about 18/19 years ago & it would have been then, at least, 3 years old. Thought it was a nice foliage plant but nothing special. Then it had a few of its very beautiful, but ephemeral, flowers. Their fragrance is unbelievable. They only flower at night & by morning are starting to fade. Their berries, if there are any, turn red when ripe. They only have one flower, too, at a very long intervals. It became a bit rangy. Didn't realise it could be pruned.

Eventually, it ended up outside, under shelter. This plant cannot handle direct sun but will try & grow towards the light so it was becoming really unruly as its long bamboo-like thin stems grew & grew. Its pot cracked open, as it was so potbound & it burst its container. By this time it would have been, at least, twenty years old. We were moving & I was going to throw this poor plant out. Had second thoughts & we bought some secateurs, pruned most of the six ft long stems. Made sure we left some leaves. Some stems we cut almost to the ground. Bought a good pot for it, hacked at the compacted root ball to get it to a more manageable size, repotted it & fed & watered it. Well, didn't it surprise us!!! It grew & grew & grew!!! The stems we had cut down at ground level sprouted with beautiful leaves. They now form, what looks like a skirt at the bottom of the plant. New stems shot up & new leaf branches shot out. It became a lovely, luxuriant plant nearly six ft high. It is probably potbound now but it still seems happy, so we shall leave it for the moment.

We found out later that this plant is from the West African rainforest region, hence its appellation of "Sierra Leone" & that it is quite rare!!!!! We love it now.

A pic of its flower.

There two tall stems shooting up. They will add another 45-60cms height to this plant. :affraid:

A pic taken today of the three (not two) new stems which are shooting for the roof!!! They are way up above the rest of the plant.

This stem of our dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone" is definitely reaching for the sky!!!!! The other two are not growing so fast or tall, thank goodness. The tall one is almost touching the roof. :affraid:

It has hit the roof & is bent at the top!!!!! How much further will it grow, I wonder??????
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Well, it kept growing. In fact all of its new shoots are heading for the roof. Generally, it looks rather happy with much new growth.

Its top is now very bushy with new leaves & shoots everywhere.

Lovely flower, and wow it is growing fast. Do you know why it is a rare plant Joy?
I can bet you are glad you never threw it out

Maybe you could try to propagate some pieces? ( is that the right word )

Have no idea why it is rare, Dawn, maybe the authorities in Cameroon won't let it be be taken from the wild anymore. Just going on what I've seen on the net & also, a couple of dracaena fanciers were keen to hold of it but couldn't find it for sale. One was desperate for me to send him cuttings but I did not know how to do that & the plant was still regrowing from the severe pruning we had given it. Poor thing. Mine was bought nineteen years ago & I have not seen them for sale since.

It probably could be propagated (yep, right word ) like other dracaenas, by planting stem offcuts & hoping they take root. Haven't tried this as I don't think I would have room for another plant or three.

Well, well, the wonderful dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone" is going to have a mass flowering. :dance05: Have just discovered flower buds all over it. Noticed one this afternoon, then another, another & so on. This is its first mass flowering since we have had it, about twenty years. It would have been at least three years old when we bought it. Many of these buds are on spindly little branches which should have been pruned. It is also shooting up many new stems, too. Guess it is happy where it is. :dancing:

Here is another. This is going to be one huge mass flowering. do hope it doesn't mean that the plant will die. Maybe I should take some cuttings.

Here are some more pics of the flower buds. There was one, that I hadn't even noticed, which, sneakily, flowered. Saw it in the morning when the flower was finished. They flower during the night & only last a few hours. :sad4: Will have to go outside each night now to try & catch them in bloom. It is a bit chilly at the moment, too.

A couple of the smaller buds.

Several buds here.

And some more.

Hi Joy! I don't think a mass flowering would wipe out that plant! If the flowers do take a lot out of it, I should imagine that it will just look a bit sick for a while, until it recovers. But I do not wipe aside your apprehension, I just think it is doing this as the conditions are just right for it to flower so much. (says me who knows nothing about that plant ) Its all that TLC that it is responding too . Probably enjoying your lovely "winter " weather too. Enjoy all those beautiful babies as they arrive .

I sure do hope so, Dawn. The plant would be about 23yrs old now & was so neglected for nearly half that time. It did have two or three flowers in one blooming cycle during the years of neglect but I have never seen anything like this mass flowering before.

Being a dracaena, I think it can easily be propagated from cuttings & I have already been eyeing off some new growth to use this purpose.

Well, I managed to get a couple of pics of an open flower tonight. Had to read the manual on how to get the flash to work on my new camera.

The flower will be finished by morning. It had a lovely perfume.

A close up.

Tonight's dracaena surculosa punctulata "Sierra Leone" flowers. There are two of them. One hadn't fully opened when I went outside to check if any were open. It does seem as though the plant is staggering their opening.

They are so beautiful!! , wish I could actually get a whiff of them too. That's great they are staggering their opening eh Joy! or else you would only see them once!. If that makes sense.

Will you take slips from it, after it has flowered or have you already done it.

They are really special lucky you

One would never say they are night photos your camera flash is good, there is no starkness about the picture which so often comes with night flash shots.

Thanks Dawn. They are a most unusual flower. There were actually three flowers last night. Discovered this morning that there were two close together &, sort of, looked like one. These images are taken with the patio light on, as well as the flash. Without the flash the pics have a golden hue & the flower doesn't stand out.

There are still many yet to open. Though the size of some of the buds seem to indicate that quite a few may open tonight.

Here is last night's flower. As you can see, a couple of the "flowerets" didn't open. This seems to happen sometimes.

There is some good new stems that have grown up with some leaves on the top & they would be ideal for propagating. Simply cut them off, dunk them into rooting hormone, plant & cross fingers. The remaining stem would then sprout side branches with leaves & make the plant bushier.