I’m about to spoil everyone’s fun: I don’t think the smelly aroids qualify for the distinction of having smelly flowers. In fact, I’ll bet that very few of you have ever even smelled an aroid flower. In the stinky ones I grow, the smell is coming from the distal part of the spadix. You can easily prove this by cutting off the distal part of the spadix and tossing it; then what’s left of the inflorescence can be brought into the house with impunity – even put on the dinner table. Of course the spoiled meat colors of the spathe probably won’t improve anyone’s appetite. My nominee for a disgustingly smelly flower comes from the ranks of those flowers which typically have a sweet, pleasant scent. These are particularly offensive because one approaches them expecting goodness. A good example of this is Paeonia ‘Coral Charm’ : its undeniable beauty lures the unsuspecting supplicant in for a reward of reeking stale fish. At least with the aroids most people know what to expect. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/