We call it the mother plant, and, like my gung gung, it’s always been there. My grandfather’s name was Suey Lin Dong; gung gung is Cantonese for maternal grandfather. As a gesture of housewarming, his own mother gave him a dracaena plant; with his attention, it bloomed, sprouted new branches, bloomed again. In this time of grief, we piece together the story of the mother plant. Dracaena comes from the Greek drakaina, for dragon; in some species, cutting the bark secretes a red medicinal resin, known as dragon’s blood.

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Persons: it’s, Suey Lin Dong, gung gung, bloomed, Dracaena Locations: New York City, Hong Kong, Chinatown, Flushing , Queens