Over two weeks behind this winter, the new growth of the Mediterranean native, Dracunculus vulgaris has finally emerged. This lovable monster is now only a few weeks away from showing off its foul-smelling, phallic, but visually fascinating inflorescence, a large maroon spathe with a dark purple spadix. Watching this is sort of like a train wreck…it’s repulsive, but you just can’t stop watching.
Haha, though they may make nice companion plants, as a warning never plant Epimedium grandiflorum or Epimedium sagittatum in the same bed with Dracunculus vulgaris before the last average frost date,
Mine has been up for a few weeks now. Still too young for the “full monty” display. I keep watching it build up year by year. One of my favorite plants along with the every delightful Pig Butt Arum! Plus, it’s the only time of the year that I get to ask people, “Hey, want to go out back and take a look at my Dracunculus??’
You make it sound so appealing!
I’m sure I’m not the only person to immediately dig up more info after seeing this interesting post. The poisonous nature of the plant was a major concern for some people, though why they thought their children would be likely be attracted to, and consume, something with the smell of rotting flesh made me wonder more about their culinary capabilities than anything else…
Dracunculus are no more toxic than other commonly grown house plants like calla lilies (zantedeschia), or philodendrons, monstera, zzz plant (zamioculcas), or peace lilies (spathiphyllum). All contain Oxalic acid. Imagine forcing a child to consume something far more toxic, like Aspirin, which has a LD50 (lethal dose to kill 50% of a test population of rats as measured by mgs/kg of body weight) of only 200. The herbicide Roundup, which makes everyone tremble, only has an LD 50 of 5000, which makes it 25 times less toxic than Aspirin. Most everything is toxic in the wrong amount.
I’ve been telling people for years that Roundup is far less toxic orally than aspirin, but they can’t seem to get past all the scary ads. I teach all my Chemistry students how to read a Safety Data Sheet so that they can see these things for themselves!
Hooray for real science!
Yes, we are well-passed time for another age of enlightenment.