voodoo lily
Rock n’ Roll plant of the week: the Dracuncula
Wow. Where do I even begin with this one?
Not to be mistaken for the blood-thirty Dracula, the Dracuncula- or Dracunculus Vulgaris- is a perennial plant native to the Mediterranean.
This beauty goes by several rock n’ roll names: Dragon Arum, Black Arum, Voodoo Lily, Snake Lily, Stink Lily, Black Dragon, Dragonwort, and Ragons. In Greek, it’s known as the Drakondia.
This plant is rich purple with a jet black, phallic-looking “jack” or “spadix” that’s usually a foot in length, but can grow to be as long as 50 inches. Sure, we’ve heard that one before.
As if it couldn’t get any better than that, this one blooms for a very short period of time- about a day or two- and reeks to high heaven. The scent has been compared to rotting flesh, a corpse, dead meat, a carcus, road kill and death itself.
In fact, my mom has one growing in her yard and didn’t know it was blooming this year until she noticed two vultures circling overhead. The next day, one of them was digging around in her flower bed looking for rotting meat!
This one is definitely fit for the rock n’ roll gardening hall of fame.
Cracked Pot Pix
