Dracunculis vulgaris

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 02 Jul 2006 10:37:40 PDT
Joyce wrote,
>          Would love to have a start of Dracunculis vulgaris.  I had
>one once potted but it failed after blooming in Sacramento.  Here, I
>can plant in the ground.  My dogs are sure to love the odor.

Actually, even though the inflorescence of D. vulgaris smells like carrion 
to us humans, it apparently doesn't to the much more discriminating 
olfactory sense of dogs. My dogs have never seemed even to investigate this 
plant in flower, although when it blooms I always start out blaming the 
dogs for having concealed a dead mole somewhere nearby.

There must be some component in the emanations of various aroids that 
stimulates pollinating insects, but even I can tell the "cow-manure-like" 
smell of certain species from the smell of real cow manure -- and my dogs 
haven't ever tried to roll in the arums, which unfortunately is their 
immediate response to real manure.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA




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