Dracunculus vulgaris

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/2015/June 2015/17 June 2015 Dracunculus vulgaris/HTML/ Dracunculus vulgaris (Voodoo Lily) is a perennial and starts growing in the Spring almost following the receding snow. It dies down completely during the early Summer. It is purely ornamental.It has a strong carnivore odor which attracts flies for pollination.

 

[Greenhorn]

I was on a garden walk recently and one house there was a Dracunculus vulgaris. The fellow that lived there had pictures of it in bloom as it was not at the moment, only once a year. And yes as you mention, he said the smell when it bloomed was quite unpleasant.


That is a very nice blog you have, a lot of great stuff going on. I like your goal of moving away from processed foods and the fact your doing things beyond the typical. Very Nice.

 

[Beth_B]

@Durgan, you post the most interesting things! I've never heard of flies pollinating, so I looked it up and found this USDA site - mosquitoes can pollinate too.
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/flies.shtml

PS, very cute dog.

 

[claudine]

This plant looks scary Of course it's also very interesting and unique, but I'm not sure if I'd like to grow it. I prefer plants that don't have a carnivore odor

 

[Durgan]

The first two or three years of growth, the flower had an odor. The last few years there is absolutely no odor. The flower is different and even with the odor, it is rather attractive. The odor is not strong unless one is very close, and not as cloying as a decaying animal body.My plants now produce many seeds each year. I never tied to propagate them.It appears to be almost indestructible.

 

[Bootsy]

We don't find that they smell too much. Only for about 24 hours. Once they have been pollinated they smell disappears completely.

Over here they flower in June.

 

[Pat]

Interesting plant, does it only grow in a certain area? I have never heard of it before, don't think I would a bad smelling plant in my garden

 

[Bootsy]

It's a half hardy plant. It will survive quite easily in regions that do not get much below 23F but can survive lower if in a sheltered spot or mulched very well in winter. It likes rich soil with good drainage.

As it only smells for 24 hours in a season it's not a problem. Just don't have it close to a window.

 

[Bootsy]

I have never heard of it before

It's from the same family as the arum lilies. Most of them are hardy, such as arum italicum which grows fairly rampantly in our garden - which gets temperatures down to 13F.

The new leaves on the arum italicum are forming now. They flower similar to dracunculus but in white and then in late summer the leaves die back completely leaving upright stems of bright red seeds. Their common name over here are 'Lords and Ladies'.

 

[claudine]

These bright red seeds look really pretty! Are they edible? I think my dog would try to eat them if I planted a plant like this in my parents' garden

 

[Fernsdaddy]

Nice Voodoo Lily, I haven't any luck getting mine to bloom, I've had it for 6 years and all it does is grow. Its still nice to see some one else getting theirs to bloom.

 

[Bootsy]

These bright red seeds look really pretty! Are they edible? I think my dog would try to eat them if I planted a plant like this in my parents' garden

Almost everything in the garden is edible . It's just that some of them won't do you any good.

Arum is one of those. The berries are poisonous but are rarely a problem - and the birds love them. A dog would spit them out immediately.

Here's a quote from the link below:-

"Arum italicum is thoroughly poisonous. The berries are particularly so, but because they taste terrible—and immediately—it would be difficult to chew long enough to ingest many."

http://www.louistheplantgeek.com/a-gardening-journal/572-arum-italicum-pictum

 

[IcyBC]

The flower is gorgeous and I haven't seen them in real life before! It looks very unique!

 

[Pat]

It's from the same family as the arum lilies. Most of them are hardy, such as arum italicum which grows fairly rampantly in our garden - which gets temperatures down to 13F.

The new leaves on the arum italicum are forming now. They flower similar to dracunculus but in white and then in late summer the leaves die back completely leaving upright stems of bright red seeds. Their common name over here are 'Lords and Ladies'.

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Thanks for the details on this plant, I have seen this plant not only as an outdoor plant but as a house plant.

 

[claudine]

Almost everything in the garden is edible . It's just that some of them won't do you any good.

Arum is one of those. The berries are poisonous but are rarely a problem - and the birds love them. A dog would spit them out immediately.

Here's a quote from the link below:-

"Arum italicum is thoroughly poisonous. The berries are particularly so, but because they taste terrible—and immediately—it would be difficult to chew long enough to ingest many."

http://www.louistheplantgeek.com/a-gardening-journal/572-arum-italicum-pictum

Haha, some things are edible only once
Thank you for the information. It's funny that birds love those berries even though they taste terrible