And it's really, really amazing!! The gentleman who lives the apartment in front of my office has been growing this
Dracunculus vulgaris, or Voodoo Lily. Today it finally bloomed! The flies love it, it truly smells like nauseating rotting garbage. And it's not like you have to get up close to smell it... stinks up the entire courtyard and drifts into our windows. Remarkable! I've been bringing my camera to work for 2 weeks now, and the one day I leave it at home, the darn thing decides to open up. These were taken with my crappy phone camera... oh well. Enjoy!
Update: On the second day the smell, and the flies, have completely gone. I guess it only get one day of mad stinky fly sex to get itself pollinated!
By day 3 it's all over... Whew that was a fast and furious display. Some plants are so funny in how they have their sexual encounters arranged. One day of a reeking pollination furry and it's done. Ah nature!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
1 comment:
I had one of these in my garden last year, and it wasn't all that bad for me.
http://coldcalculation.blogspot.com/2006/06/news-from-small-city-garden.html
Apparently, it's a Mediterranean native widely distributed over there. I remember I got the bulb at Sloat. When I found out it was going to stink, I thought about planting it in the parking lot at work. Heh, heh. Maybe you could plant one in your landlord's garden. :)
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