[pbs] Dracunculis vulgaris
Jane McGary
janemcgary at earthlink.net
Sun Jul 2 13:37:40 EDT 2006
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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