# Dracaena "Janet Craig" safe?



## fbsmith3 (Oct 16, 2011)

Ok here's my story, while planning on decorating Cleo, my boxy friendâ€™s, indoor habitat, I read a list of safe plants and Dracaena was mentioned.

I like Dracaena and I bought several kinds from the discount rack at Walmart. She's a terror and if she kills them, I have back ups.

Well I just found Dracaena "Janet Craig" on the toxic beware list. 
Are some varieties of Dracaena safe and others toxic?
Are all Dracaena in some way toxic?
Am I over-reacting again?

I keep running into confusing situation when trying to do the best for my Boxie friend.


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## Torty Mom (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

I didn't find it on the tortoise table site. If you want, you can email them and they will research it for you!


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## fbsmith3 (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

I think I found the source of my problem;

"Dracaena indivisa" is listed as safe on (http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/houseplants.htm) Janet Craig is not mentioned. 

Dracaena Janet Craig and Dracaena Warneckii are Dracaena deremensis, but ( http://lancaster.unl.edu/factsheets/031.htm ) list them as non-toxic for children. I will be emailing The Tortoise Table.


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## Torty Mom (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

Let us know what you find out! If you are wanting houseplant types "spider" plants are safe. Just make sure you re-pot them and detox them for a bit before you put them in the enclosure!


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## fbsmith3 (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

I have 2 varieties of spider plants spiderlets already along with Coleus and some dandylion seedlings. The Dracaena are very full and easy to care for and have provided a great hide. I will have to remove the Dracaena tomorrow morning when I get home until I find out more.

Cleo does not graze on her encloser plants, yet. She only eats out of her food bowl.


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## ascott (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

Plant Family
Agavaceae

Plant Botanical Name
Dracaena fragrans 'Janet Craig'( Deremensis Group)

Plant Common Name
Corn Plant, Janet Craig Dracaena

General Description

The fine corn plant 'Janet Craigâ€™ is a vigorous selection with particularly broad dark green leaves. In time it becomes a very large plant but will remain smaller if grown indoors.

Corn plant is a very common houseplant and tropical landscape plant. Its popularity stems from its attractive, lush, glossy foliage, easy culture and toughness. This native of tropical Africa is a slow-growing, upright evergreen shrub or small tree that has numerous arching, lance-shaped leaves. In mature specimens, the leaves are concentrated towards the upper part of its stems and look somewhat like the blades of corn plants. Older specimens also produce long panicles of strongly scented white flowers in late summer to fall, followed by orange fruit.

Where hardy, plant in a sheltered sunny site in fertile, well-drained soil and use in landscape plantings and mixed borders. This species is also a common houseplant. Indoors, it likes bright indirect light, humidity, warmth, and a soil-based potting medium.

Corn plant cuttings root easily and can be grown in water. They are commonly sold in the trade as "lucky bamboo" though they are not truly related to bamboo. The water-grown cuttings can be planted in soil once they begin to lose vigor.

This was all that I could find......There are like 40 species of this plant.....


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## fbsmith3 (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

Thanks for all that information. Unfortunately, although it is a lot of information it does not help me with my original question.
The part that says "They are commonly sold in the trade as "lucky bamboo"." Does not make any sense, Lucky Bamboo is Dracaena sanderiana and Janet Craig is Dracaena deremensis. So I do not know where you collected this information, it is kind of strange.

I have been growing Dracaena for years because it cleans the air, I know a lot about how to grow them, it's just I don't know anything about their toxicity.

Thanks for the effort anyway.


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## ascott (Oct 16, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

yeah....I know fbsmith  That's why I said that was all I could find.... 

Good luck on this one


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## fbsmith3 (Oct 17, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

Hi

Many thanks for contacting the Tortoise Table! We do have an entry on our website for another Dracaena, but it's a bit confusing, so I'm not surprised that you havenâ€™t seen it (we'll be revising it to make it clearer and to include other Dracaenas). http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?mode=main&catID=354 As with many plants this one is continually being re-classified, and whereas it was formerly in the Family Ruscaceae, it has now been placed in the Family Asparagaceae. Also, Draecana deremensis is also called Draecana fragrans. But enough of that.

I have seen it listed as toxic and non-toxic as well, but from what I can see, the members of this genus (Dracaena) are noted for their ability to remove pollutants from the air â€“ especially when they are treated as indoor plants, and one study showed that they were especially good at removing formaldehyde, xyene and toluene from the air indoors. This means that there is a good chance that these pollutants will be present in the leaves of the plant, and for that reason I think I would err on the side of caution and not feed it. As with most plants there is little scientific research on its suitability for tortoises, but here are some sites that list it as being toxic to other animals: The ASPCA list it as containing saponins and say that it is toxic: http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants/dracaena.aspx (but they also list it as being in the Agavaceae family and Iâ€™m not sure where they got that. Another pet site says that it is toxic to cats and dogs and lists these as the symptoms: Can cause in cats: dilated pupils, breathing difficulty, abdominal pain, increased heartrate and drooling. Can cause in both cats and dogs: vomiting, depression, inappetence, drooling, incoordination, and weakness.

Of course reptiles are not cats and dogs, but this is the problem we run up against all the time. Tortoises are able to eat some plants that are toxic to mammals, but in the absence specific evidence I would always err on the side of caution and not feed the plant to your tortoise (although if it nibbles a leaf accidentally it will no doubt be fine â€“ but I would just keep an eye on it for symptoms over the next few days.

I hope that helps and didnâ€™t just confuse you more! It is very difficult to make an absolute judgement on many plants as often the only research that has been carried out is in relation to their suitability for humans and other mammals, so we just have to make an educated guess on how a reptile will react to the plant. Do let me know if you have any more questions.

Best wishes, Nina (on behalf of The Tortoise Table)


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## Torty Mom (Oct 17, 2011)

*RE: Dracaena "Jenet Craig" safe?*

They are super sweet over there! Glad they got back to you so fast!


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