PlantFiles: Dragon Flower, Dragon Arum, Voodoo Lily, Black Lily
Dracunculus vulgaris

Cool flowers! I have had it for three years, first year I broke the foliage off fairly early (the stems are very brittle), but today it opened its first of two blooms. They are huge, stunning, and kind of freaky at the same time. I noticed a bad smell while having tea and doing my morning survey of the garden. Thought there was a dead animal somewhere among the flowers, until I reached the source--yeah it does stink. No attention needed, just be careful not to break the stems when working around it.

My landlord, a dear friend, neglected to tell me there were two of these planted outside the front door. This is our first spring in the home. We moved in here in September, but the foliage didn't appear until about the middle of January or so. I figured it was some kind of bulb, and just kept my eye on it. Then it began to bloom, I was fascinated to see what it was going to look like. Then, one fateful day my 6 year old said "what is that smell?" and I wondered where all the flies had come from. The second one bloomed about 10 days later.
Pretty neat to look at, pretty disgusting to smell, but you get kind of used to it, and the smell goes away after the first day. Kind of cool in a gothic sort of way.
Clearly it is low maintenance, as my friend and I are low energy gardeners.

I am in Arcadia Canada. This plant came up one year when I started watering a yard that had very little water for a long time.

Thought it was from outer space!!

In hearing all of you not knowing what it is.............................

Actually it is a Calla Lily !! A Black Calla. I have had mine for 15 years, smelly but soo cool!

I thought it would make a nice bouquet for someone you don't like so much!! Then when stink day comes....=o)

Just thought you would like to know what it really is ! Have a great day! Flower Lovers!
=o)
Camie

I have been very pleased with this plant. I thought I had killed it twice. The first time by forgetting I had planted it in the fall and not watering, the second time by snapping off the stem at the bottom with the hose. It has come back every time and is a very handsome plant. I look forward to more.

I just baught a "bulb" of this plant and havent tryed growing it yet but my neighbor had one and it did very well hear in southern missouri. She had it planted by her pond but the smell of it made her sick every time she went out and it was in bloom so she threw hers away(i told her that was a sin!) I am planning on doing mine in a container on our front porch (evil laugh) I have no problem with its scent and find it...well relaxing LOL I am so used to the sent of dead rotting meat that it does not bother me now. I work for the state picking up the dead animals off the sides of roads all day so thats why im use to it. Does anyone have any tips on growing this plant?

I love this plant. I planted two of them in my New Windsor NY garden three years ago now I have 12 of them. People are amazed by them. I have not meet another person who grows this plant in upstate NY. I have found the best thing to do with them is just leave them alson

We bought our house this year and we found out that we have 2 of these beautiful flowers. They bloomed the week before June and they are so pretty. They do smell like rotting carp though, but its not that bad. They had some wierd looking beetles on it this morning. I'm very excited to have two plants in my front yard because there is only 2 claims to people having them in Utah so I guess that makes me the third.

A member offered seeds of this plant several years ago.
I thought it would be hard to propagate so I just planted the seeds in a neglected part of the yard and forgot all about them. In a couple of years I noticed the leaves and asked on Identification forum what it was.
I moved it into a sunnier location and after a couple more years it bloomed.
Very striking and glad it is in the lower part of the yard away from the house as it smells like a dead mouse. LOL

My dad (recently pasted away) has plenty of these beautiful plants growing in his back yard. I have always been a fan, yep even of the smell!! I love summer, they bloom in spring and the smell would be a reminder that summer is on its way.

I want to plant some where I'm living now, possibly in a pot because I'm renting, and plant them in the ground when i have my own place. unlike my dad I am a novice.

Grows great in my area of Bellingham, Washington. It propagates on its own if left unattended.

Beautiful foliage and magnificent flower. Stinky....whewee!

Last fall, I was able to get a start of this neat plant. Not knowing exactly what it was, I planted it close to my door in order to care for it first. Now that I have researched this amazing flower, I may need to move it. A neighbor's flowered last year, but I must have missed the smelling day. I am just fascinated with mine and hope it flowers this year. What is a common name for this plant? I live in eastern Tennessee and was told it was an 'old' plant.

This has flowered the last 2 years for me, although I have had it 6 years. Started with three bulbs, planted in a large deep pot and left outside. All grew, but frosts, I think, managed to kill off two. If in ground, it may not have happened. The remaining one I placed in a cold, shady greenhouse. I think it was not a mature bulb, but now it is quite large and robust.

Looking to put it in the ground in near future. The smell attracts blowflies, as the smell is akin to salty rotting fish. Smell only lasts a couple of days and is not to be sniffed at closely--it is pungent. No seeds made on mine as yet. The flower does not last for long but is magnificent. The spadix was 20" long! UK zone 8a-8b

This plant does very well in the SLC, Utah area. I have had it for over five years now. Bought it on a whim and have had more fun with it than should be allowed. It is a conversation piece in my garden and I have given many bulbs to friends. The tallest I have seen so far is under a meter. I grow it in low nutrient sandy soil and have had very good luck. The stock has been stout the leaves brilliant and the bloom has grown up to a foot in size with is usual pungent odor

We live in Santa Rosa, CA (about 75 miles north of San Francisco). I almost cut this down thinking it was a new weed. When I saw the odd spotted stems I thought I would wait and see if it flowered. It now has 3 large flowers, one opened and stinking and two not yet unfurled. I was glad to read here that it only stinks for a short time. We moved to this house a year ago in early May and I know it wasn't growing then. Maybe the old owners cut it down as they didn't want prospective buyers thinking they lived next to a slaughterhouse!! What a nice find and it's now safe from the weed pile.

This is my first year of having D. vulgaris. I planted the bulbs last Fall as part of a catalog order purchase, mostly just to have something "exotic." The smell is BAD, as described here like a rotting dead rat. If you happen to be down wind of it within about 25 ft, the smell will just about drive you out of the garden! The plant is such a successful mimic of this smell that it looked like every fly of every variety in my neighborhood was attracted to it. At the height of its flowering yesterday, I looked down into the bulbous cup below the spadix and saw a few dozen flies in a frantic swarm involved in what appeared to be an effort to eat away at the waxy light green base of the dark purple (nearly black) spadix. Turning on the water sprinklers around the plant seemed to help suppress the odor.

I've decided, as others here have stated, that the brief, very dramatic bloom is worth a day of stench. I do, however, intend to move it away from my front door and find a more isolated spot in my garden where it can bloom without being so nauseating and hopefully multiply.

I live in Central Texas, zone 7B, and this cool plant shows up very early for me. I have it planted on the north east corner of my house, were it gets little morning sun and shade the rest of the day. It starts to poke its leaves up by mid January, and blooms by Valentine's day. It then withers back as soon as the temperatures start to warm up, about mid April. I basically ignore it until it shows up again the next January. I love this plant, despite the smell. My sons love to bring their friends over and dare them to sniff it up close!

This plant grows in my back yard, and my parents and sister have one as well. The plant is as described, very beautiful and quite smelly. Ours has acquired more blooms with each successive year...this year we counted 42! The plant has survived extreme heat and cold (Walla Walla, Washington). We noticed that one came up on its own in another part of our yard this Spring.

I have just found this amazing plant growing in my hedgerow (moved house recently). Its too far away to worry about the smell, but its a real stunner. No one I know has ever seen one. I live in Cornwall UK and I seem unable to find out much about them.

I have this plant growing in my Catskill mountain garden in the cold end of zone 5, bordering on zone 4. It is growing in shade under a Serbian spruce (acid soil) with a light pine bark mulch. I planted three bulbs from a commercial source, and two have thrived. One did not sprout. It showed no hardiness problems in last winter's unusually cold conditions (several nights below -20F). It is currently blooming, and smells bad, but does not smell strong. It is weird and dramatic and quite different from the native jack-in-the-pulpits I have.

We live in Auburn, Washington where summers are beautiful! We are not great gardeners, my husband and I, but, we do enjoy nature's wonders. This strange visitor came to being from somewhere unknown to us. One year, a tiny green sprout appeared in one corner of the backyard. My husband and I left it alone, curious as to what it was going to be. We forgot all about it after that and did not pay much attention. Next thing we know, it had a withered flower. So we said, next year we will keep an eye out.

Well, to make the story short, this is the fourth year since then, and this is the first time we saw it in its full glory. Haven't smelled the foul smell it is said to have, and we do love the flower. It is a no care, no frills plant to have. Too bad the bloom lasts for only a few days. It does not need watering, as a rule, and it takes the heat pretty well. We have hard pan soil, so it's a wonder it is growing where it is now.

So far it has only been ONE plant, but this year it looks like another stalk is growing a few inches from the original plant. Such an amazing plant! It makes the backyard pretty interesting. I would love to have more of them.

I have not done anything to maintain this plant. It is beautiful and it smells horrible in the heat of the sun. I live in Pendleton Oregon and it is hidden behind another bush and is about 3 feet tall. The plant emits a smell reminiscent of a natural glass leak.

We live in Eugene/Springfield Oregon. I had gotten some bulbs several years ago, not knowing what they smelled like. Planted them outside the kitchen and bedroom window. We were so excited when they came up, then they bloomed. It took only days for them to be moved. Didn't care if they lived or not, and they have, of course.

So, as a slight joke, planted them in all the neighbors yards (glad you don't live by me?). Today as I went into the field across the street, I see the neighbor has thrown them into the field. However they are doing very well and just getting ready to bloom...what a treat!

We had just moved into our home last fall and had no idea what was coming up on our hill so found this site. We live in a foothill community at 1860 feet elevation and 40 miles East of Los Angeles. This is a very unique plant with beautiful foliage and a striking flower. It only smelled the first day it opened and was similar to a dead rat odor. The plant receives part-shade, moderate water and appears to be fairly hardy.

I live in Suburban Philadelphia (known as the "Main Line") and I was able to grow one of these (zone 6). I ordered mine from a catalog because I had seen one of these in bloom during a garden tour in my area.

If you like an unusual plant you must have one of these. Talk about drama! And yes, it smells! When it opened, the flies were buzzing around it like crazy. I made a huge mistake of planting mine near my front door (what was I thinking?) and near my dining room window ... I guess when I planted it in the fall, I imagined that I wouldn't miss seeing it in bloom (not thinking of smelling it).

I'm happy to learn that it will only smell for one day ... it sure is beautiful and exotic. I'm thinking that I will try to move it this fall.

Found this plant in my garden in Burbank, CA in 1972. When I moved, I took the bulbs with me and now have 3 small groves going in Agoura Hills, CA. Grows quickly in spring until flower bud comes out; then leaves wither back a bit. One day when the sun hits the bud, it will open and smell like the dead! The odor draws flies, bugs, etc. for one day, then stays pretty (purple velvety lining with shiny black stem in the middle) for 2-3 more days before dying back. I've had the green-to-orange seed pod develop in the dead blossom, but had no success in figuring out what to do with it. Bulbs seem to multiply in the ground and I separate them out every few years to get more blossoms.

Surprise Lily (my name for it---the surprise is the SMELL) likes morning sun, then shade. Too much hot sun withers leaves. Delighted to find other Surprise Lily owners!

I live in northern Michigan and I'm tired of the deer eating all my flowers! I have tried only natural deterrents, to no avail! So I'm going to plant Dracunculus vulgaris to see if the odor from this plant will stop them! I will plant many and take notes to see what happens. This will be very interesting, plus is a very unusual beautiful plant!

I found this plant growing at my mother in law's. It had been left behind by her neighbor. I thought it was interesting, so I dug the whole plant out, bulb and all, with permission. I planted it in my yard, and it's surviving just fine. When it bloomed, the sun was hot and the smell was terrible, but worth the beauty of the bloom, as long as it's not next to your window. =o)

This plant is growing in my neighbor's back yard and soon to be growing in mine! I live in Southern Indiana, Zone 6. It is growing in mostly shade and is gorgeous!! My neighbor said it does stink terribly when it first opens and flies swarm around it, but that's only the first day. Then, not so bad. Actually, this year we didn't smell anything, maybe the smell depends on weather conditions?? It has been cooler and rainier here than usual. Anyway, he said it does self-seed and multiplies unless it's kept cut back. He's giving me a start of it and I can't wait. I had never seen anything like it!! I just wish the blooms lasted longer than a few days...
Amanda

This plant appeared in my garden a few years ago, and it was a complete surprise, as I never planted it. I was TERRIFIED of it at first, and crept up close enough to get a good photo to take to my local nursery for identification. Once I knew it was harmless, I got closer for a better look. What a fascinating plant! It puts out an odor that is exactly like decomposing meat or a dead animal that is over-ripe ... very nauseating. That "scent" attracts every manner of bee and fly you can imagine, and they dive deep into the plant. The odor lasts for several hours, but the bloom --- which looks like maroon velvet --- lasts a couple of days. It has bloomed every year for 3 years without my doing anything at all. Amazing plant!

They are magnificent, mysterious black flowers that remind of myths. What I found on my land does not smell at all. The leaves are the most elaborate pattern I ever saw and the stem is what I call "leopard style of a plant". They grow in the shade, and cannot stand the heat, and they flower in April.

Dimitri

I live in Ione, Oregon; high desert with alkaline soil.
My House is 100 yrs old; next to the north window, this plant thrives. It is approx. 4' tall and 3' at the base, (some Lily of the Valley surround the base.)

It always blooms around the First of June, and toward the last of June it starts dying back and forming seed pods that turn orange-red (like Arum italicum). I have tried to start it from seed pods to no avail, the plant also seems to have a bulb, but I haven't been able to transplant either. There aren't any other plants like it in town.

The flower is beautiful, but it stinks really badly - never try to bring it into your house. This plant get full morning sun, but from noon on it gets shade. It likes some water, but survived many years with very little. It has survived several extreme cold winters, even some sub zero for a month at a time.

I live in the Portland, Oregon area and there are two clusters of these in my neighborhood. I assume they have been shared by neighbors. I do not know the hardiness or propagation methods, but in my back yard they self propagate readily. I have cut about 20 down because the stems were not long enough to carry the weight of the flower. I have about 30 or so left, and after the first one opened today, I do not want to see what 30 Dragon Arums smell like together. It is however, one of the most striking flowers I have ever seen. (Some of the buds I have are about 18 inches long.)