The Song of India

Doesn't the name itself make one  think of  those lively and joyous songs  from Bollywood?   Many houseplants look similar. How can I be positive this beauty  I have  is the "Song of India".? The Internet  being my main source of information, I have checked out this link ;-  http://www.ehow.com/how_5514844_identify-song-india-tree-plant.html.  Yeap, no doubts that my beauty is the "Song of India".  But why  name this plant the "Song of India'?  Anyone who knows the answer ?  BTW,  there is its cousin, the "Song of Jamaica", also as beautiful but more cream in color.  Nope , I do not have the cousin. 

I fell in love with this plant the moment  I saw it in my good friend's  garden.  She  (Tracy) gave me a small potted plant. I watched over it like a hawk those days, since I was so worried it will end  up like my Adenium ! Luckily it did not, but grew more enchanting  as it grows bigger.  However, when I had to move away to East Malaysia,  I passed this plant to my sister as she seems to like it too.  The ones that I have now are off-springs  that my sister passed to me two years back.  She knew I liked this plant so much.

This plant is real easy to grow and propagate. Just use a cutting and stick it into some well drained soil. This plant can be pruned for side branches to grow, otherwise it will just keep growing up on a single stalk . In a container, it grows slowly.  I have seen the Song of India grown by the council along the sides of the main road. Gosh have they grown so tall over the years, easily over 10 feet tall!  When the Song of India is young, the stem seems herbaceous, but it  turns rather hardy when matured.  The Song of India grows well under the sun or in partial shade. I have not tried growing it in the house. As a rule of thumb I  don't keep plants in the house - except in balconies or  placed near the windows.  I think plants should have the right to enjoy fresh air and sunshine, not all coped up in the house.

The Song of India apparently is a member of the Draceana family  (Dracaena reflexa) and is commonly called  Pleomele.    Now this is interesting, the plant  apparently works as an air purifier - it supposedly removes formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylene and trichloroethylene from the air. I suppose I better propagate more of them...lol!