Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Dragon Arum aka Dracunculus vulgaris

Last week the big stink around here was briefly in the backyard. Each year I watch and wait as this lovely bloom emerges. Sadly this past week it was trashed by heavy rains so it's not looking nearly so nice right now.  (Oh, the ephemeral beauties of the garden that we plant weirdos cherish!) 
I tried to get up close and personal with the bloom to show where the many different bugs were busy working. The reason these gorgeous flowers stink like month-old garbage is to attract the right pollinators. This bloom may have been short-lived, but it did its job well. I saw at least a dozen bugs in there while I was leaning over inspecting their activities.

Standing this close to the bloom was not pleasant so please forgive me for not having zoomed in more.

I also suggest that you never attempt to use this bloom in any kind of floral arrangement unless it is displayed behind thick glass.

Do you have these where you live?

6 comments:

  1. Amazingly, I've never actually gotten close enough to smell one of these...there was a house in our old neighborhood that had a bunch around their foundation...but I never got up close to them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's one of those plants brought over from our former garden, but I think it needs more sun to bloom (transplant time). I always heard it referred to as "the penis plant".

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's pretty amazing looking! I want one now.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool plant. Curiously beautiful....from a distance. I don't grow it but it does grow hereabouts. I remember when the gian arum flowered at the US Botanic Garden. Much ado about a horrible stench.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A very unusal plant! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is beautiful to me! I had chance to see giant arum flowering at RBG Kew in London. In Croatia, where I live, I grow only our native species Arum maculatum which does not produce any stench.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...