Dracaena angolensis ‘Rocket’

Name and natural range of Dracaena angolensis ‘Rocket’

Dracaena angolensis is native to Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where it grows in warm areas with a long dry season. Its thick cylindrical leaves and underground rhizomes store water and help it through dry periods.

Sansevieria cylindrica ‘Rocket’ may still appear on older labels.

Growing Dracaena angolensis ‘Rocket’ indoors

• Watering: Let the potting mix dry through before watering deeply. Drain the pot completely and give it extra time to dry when growth slows.
• Light: Give ‘Rocket’ plenty of bright indirect light. Increase direct sunlight slowly.
• Potting mix: Use a coarse cactus or succulent mix that drains quickly.
• Temperature: Temperatures around 15–24 °C are suitable indoors.
• Humidity: Ordinary household air suits ‘Rocket’, including drier rooms. Let the base dry after watering.
• Feeding: Apply a liquid houseplant or cactus feed about once a month while fresh growth is appearing. Feed less often during slower growth.
• Structure: Its upright foliage is self-supporting. A solid pot helps balance a larger plant.
• Repotting: Move into a slightly larger pot when the roots and underground stems fill the current container.
• Propagation: Pot up a rooted shoot on its own, or split a larger clump at a natural division in the rhizome.

Dracaena angolensis ‘Rocket’ common health problems and fixes

• The plant loses stability or becomes soft at the base: Check below the surface for rot. Use a clean, disinfected tool to remove every soft or rotten part until you reach firm, healthy tissue. Throw away the rotten pieces and repot the healthy plant in fresh free-draining mix.
• The cylindrical leaves become wrinkled: Check the roots and how dry the potting mix is. When the mix is dry and the roots are firm, water thoroughly. Damaged roots need attention first.
• White fluffy insects, sticky residue or hard bumps appear: Inspect the leaf bases for mealybugs or scale. Remove visible pests, isolate the plant and use a houseplant treatment that lists the pest on the label. Follow the label for repeat treatments.
• Brown or soft, wet-looking areas keep spreading: Leaf spot or rot may be developing. Keep the leaves dry, isolate the plant and cut away badly affected parts with a clean, disinfected tool. Throw the damaged material away.
• Fine pale mottling or webbing develops: Look along the leaves for spider mites and check nearby plants too. Isolate ‘Rocket’ and use a houseplant treatment that lists spider mites on the label. Follow the label for how often to repeat the treatment.

Dracaena angolensis (Sansevieria cylindrica) ‘Rocket’ is toxic to people and pets

• Keep this plant away from children, cats and dogs.
• It contains saponins that can irritate the mouth and digestive tract.
• Chewing may cause drooling, vomiting, stomach pain, reduced appetite or weakness. Contact a veterinarian or medical professional if symptoms develop.

Why is Sansevieria cylindrica now called Dracaena angolensis?

Dracaena comes from Greek drakaina, meaning a female dragon. Angolensis means ‘from Angola’.

Carl Linnaeus established the genus Dracaena in 1767 in Mantissa Plantarum, page 9; Domenico Vandelli had proposed the name.

Élie Abel Carrière first described it as Sansevieria angolensis in 1861 in Revue Horticole (Paris), volume 10, page 447; Friedrich Welwitsch had proposed that name. James W. Byng and Maarten J. M. Christenhusz later placed it in Dracaena as Dracaena angolensis in 2018 in Global Flora, volume 4, page 64.

Sansevieria remains common in horticulture. Pei-Luen Lu and Clifford Morden showed that it belongs within Dracaena in a 2014 DNA study in Systematic Botany, volume 39. Kew’s World Checklist treats Sansevieria cylindrica as a synonym of Dracaena angolensis.