A late addition to this thread ... among the stinky tuberous aroids that I grow (to my wife's dismay, a considerable number), the worst smelling are the Typhoniums. Several of them smell exactly like being not very far downwind from a very large hog farm. Those who have been will appreciate how far up the stench scale that is, those who haven't should just be thankful - it's a peculiarly penetrating, nose-wrinkling smell even in small doses. As Jane says, Dracuculus vulgaris does a perfect "dead animal" imitation, but as Susan noted it can easily be deodorized by washing - the bouquet she mentioned was my introduction to the species, 20-odd years ago, and I've made bouquets of them myself several times that way. Steve On Tue, 9 Jun 2009, Jane McGary wrote: > Rodger wrote, > > >My Arum dioscorides is undoubtedly stinkier than your Dracunculus vulgaris! > > > >Instead of rotting flesh, it smells like a compost heap that has been over- > >watered and under-aerated and has, in consequence, gone to the dark side. > > As it grows here, Arum dioscoridis smells very like cow manure, and > Dracunculus smells exactly like a rotting animal corpse. I'd say > Dracunculus is worse. When it blooms, my first reaction is "Where did > the dogs leave a dead mole?" > > Another aggressive stinker in the bulb collection is Fritillaria > agrestis (common name, "Stink bells"). I have a number of Biarum > species, and none seems particularly offensive. I used to have some > Ferraria species in the solarium, but I got rid of them; their scent > is offensive even though it doesn't resemble anything I can identify > (lion dung, perhaps?). -- Steve Marak -- samarak@gizmoworks.com