But for me this is the most stunning of them all. It's Dracunculus Vulgaris or Dragon Arum. It stands about 3 feet high and lives in the shady undergrowth of the olive groves.
The first time I saw one was about 4 years ago, we were out exploring in the car and I saw this flash of colour. The car screeched to a halt and I was out scrambling about trying to get close enough for a decent shot.
I've had my eyes peeled for any signs of them flowering for a couple of weeks now and I was finally rewarded yesterday.
I love the colour, it's so rich and sensuous. The texture is velvety, though it glows like satin.
As with all things that are so beautiful, it does have one flaw......
it stinks like rotting flesh.
22 comments:
I bought one of these in the floating flower market in Amsterdam a couple of years or so back. I did not know what it was. I potted it up and waited. I was very impressed with what grew but it was banished to the end of the garden when we realised it was the source of the aroma of decaying flesh (mice in the wainscot we presumed.
It's so gorgeous and peculiar at the same time. I love it. I'd have to picnic with it.
Oo-er! That was so big I could hardly download it! Worth the wait though, spectacular and eerie (not surprised about the smell!).
Wow! What a stunning plant. There's nothing quite as over-the-top here, but I still love seeing the wild spring flowers as they start to emerge in the hedgerows, it's a mini-miracle every year.
Good lord Jude, don't quite know what to say to that! x
it's really quite something...
what amazing photos. wow, they don't even look real!
WOW!!
Shame about the smell but we can't all be beautiful and smell delicious like you and me :-)
xxx
That is a gorgeous plant...sad that it is so smelly! Thanks for sharing photos of it!
Wow what an amazing plant - the colour is beautifully intense. x
wow thanks for this adventure into rare and exotic plants. i do love that color esp in relation to the leaves.
Had visions of it making a dramatic singular display, when you mentioned the smell. A shame and such a stunning colour.
Absolutely beautiful. Oh interesting that something so beautiful stinks! Yuck!
That is a beautiful plant apart from the smell. Great pics Jude
have a good weekend
That really is a purple COO! flower. Amazing. The smell doesnt sound very appealing though.
That's an amazing plant - and to think that I was thrilled to see a clump of cuckoo pints when driving away from Newlyn yesterday. Love the colour too.
This is a simply stunning plant! I once owned a "starfish cactus" that my mother-in-law gave me that had a beautiful star shaped flower that smelled horrible. I wonder if they are related? It's truly a beautiful flower though.
Oh wow, that's something else. Gorgeous!
What a lovely colour! So deep and rich. I smell the fragrance of honeysuckle from outside as I read this, so no rotting flesh smell online - thankfully!
Who cares about the smell. Its so beautiful!
I'm so glad you posted a picture of this flower. I had heard of it and never imagined such glory!
Wow!
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