Stinky Aroids

Judy Glattstein jgglatt@gmail.com
Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:11:51 PDT
My Stinky Aroids 
<http://bellewood-gardens.com/2011/…> - 
Dracunculus vulgaris and Sauromatum venosum - are in flower. They 
announce this event with a stench that makes me think there's a dead 
woodchuck somewhere around here. I've seen carrion beetles on the 
Dracunculus. However neighborhood dogs - who would otherwise find the 
most odoriferous, rotting dead deer in which to roll - ignore both plants.

Is there some subtle chemical marker that a dog's superior olfactory 
powers finds lacking?

I was discussing this with a friend and she wondered what the carrion 
beetles get out of this. False advertising, I suspect, and the beetles 
get nothing.

Any comments, observations?

Judy in New Jersey with delightful summer weather today - and more rain 
on the way.


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