It looks like Dracaena fragrans.

and it is not very happy ..

they can be propagated rather easily ... i would google that .. or the houseplant forum.. get a few to root.. [if you use that latin name in the GW search.. now that you have it.. you might find a couple hundred posts on this plant ...]

and throw this thing out ...

its potting media is probably failing.. its near impossible to repot a plant that big.. as they tend to tip over...

and its ugly as hell .. lol.. sorry ...

but some new babes.. with be EXACTLY.. this plant.. and will be in a clean pot.. with new media... and will thrive and bring jouy.. until it looks liek this again.. in ten year ...

in the alternative.. simply cut off every yellow leaf about an inch from the trunk .. and see if you like what is left... they are old.. and will not regreen ... and the little stub will eventually fall off ...

ken

ps: one other alternative.. would be to cut the trunks at 3 .. 6 . and 9 inches ... repot it in some fresh media .... and it will probably regenerate into a nice.. smaller.. beautiful plant.. you can barely kill these things ....

Oh jeeze, what kind of stuff is that to say? How awful! Ken, this is a new low, even for you. Disgusting!

Kalypsoh, welcome to Gardenweb! So sorry about your loss, and the ugly comments above.

The common name of this is corn plant, though some of the stuff you find searching for that leads to the plants that grow edible ears of corn. There's no other connection between the two. You can get genuine advice to try to save it, offered in a supportive way, in the house plant forum.

In a nutshell, it probably does need to be repotted. Tap water chemicals can make it ill. If the pot it is in does not have a drain hole, these can build up to toxic levels over time. Repotting would help get rid of that, then switching to distilled water can prevent it from happening again. Please do not try fertilizing, plants in a weakened condition can be more harmed than helped by such, especially in a pot of really old soil with existing chemical build-up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Many corn plant discussions in house plant forum

^Perhaps you are overreacting? I found nothing offensive about Ken's post - that plant is NOT doing well. I have grown it once and it is a picky one. You have to get the horticultural needs just right or the leaves will turn brown.

Maybe Ken didn't see the information about the source of this plant given in the top line. Maybe that was what Purple was referring to.

^He didn't say get rid of it, he said it might be better to propagate a new one from the existing plant...who knows whether this one has root rot - all the new growth appears to be yellowing. No harm in starting a new one and keeping the existing one. Ken is blunt, but I really don't think he is being malicious.

Of course he isn't - I was just trying to pinpoint the possible source of the crossed wires between him and Purple. I'll shut up now.

"and throw this thing out ...

and its ugly as hell .. lol.. "

Yes, I'm offended and disgusted. There's no reason to be mean under the dubious guise of being informative, or whatever the goal of the post was. Nothing said by Ken answers the questions asked. This is his standard advice when people ask about very large and/or sentimental house plants, throw it away because *I* think it's ugly or too big. I do hope I am over reacting and Kalypsoh isn't so offended.

The notion of cutting off the top, and repotting it in new media is probably the best way of salvaging this plant. I don't think our poster wants to propagate it so she can one "just like it". For sentimental reasons, she probably wants to revive *this* one. I've had a lot of luck with lopping the heads off these and having new, healthy ones emerge. So...new soil, new pot, maybe a little time out of doors when the weather is fine, and it'll come back. You can, btw, take the head that you cut off, put it in damp dirt, and it will root.