Auspicious Plant with Underestimated Fragrance

Talk of things auspicious, this plant is one of them, so one of its common name is Chinese money tree. Another common name is fortune plant and corn plant because it resembles corn leaves. It has a reputation of being auspicious and the owner being fortunate when this flowers, maybe because it takes time before it does. A lot of bees and insects love nectaring in the so many flowers per panicle, in a long spike full of many panicles. Green fruits become red-orange when ripe and I guess that makes it more auspicious for the Chinese and those who believe in this superstition. It is also famous as indoor plants because NASA study reported its ability to trap poisonous gases like formaldehyde, xylene and toluene.

We have a long hedge of these to protect soil erosion and a barrier between the road and the citrus trees. They are already tall and mature producing lots of blooms. If that is of any significance, i hope prosperity and happiness for the owners are some of them. However, the name Dracaena fragrans might be an under estimation of its fragrance. A long spike near the house will be bothersome to the residents, as its fragrance borders on overpowering odor, almost awful. Can you imagine the odor of many spikes simultaneously blooming? That happens in our property, so you can't blame my mother and sister for cutting many of the plants, preventing them to produce lots of flowers.

I hope cutting many of them will not prevent the prosperity and happiness due us!

I love the reddish-purple stripes along the lobes of each flower. Lengths of each lobes differ producing lovely protrusions. 

Sometimes, the spike produce panicles on both sides

...or sometimes a panicle is borne from a long branchlet, but with this light it is so spectacular.

The spiky panicles have different flower maturity, so they open at different staggered times.

This is the hedge thickly planted on a slope to prevent soil erosion. Many plants are already cut to about a meter high. Some plants are already flowering as in the left lower portion.