Dragon arum / Dracunculus vulgaris plant, Crete, Greece, Europe.

The purplish-red spathe (specialized leaf or bract) and foul-smelling stench of the dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris, also called dragonwort, dragon lily, or voodoo lily) attracts flies to the base of its erect, flower-bearing spadix in Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete, in Greece, Europe. The purple spadix can reach over a meter long. With an odor of dung or rotting meat, the Dragon Arum entices flies deep inside into the bulbous chamber of its spathe where the flowers are actually located. The insects can sometimes get trapped overnight but are later freed, covered in pollen to find other flowers for pollination.

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Filename: 01GRE-20-30_Dragon-Lady-plant-Crete.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 2678x4050 / 2.7MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Balkan Peninsula Europe Greece Magnoliophyta Plantae angiosperms bloom blossom flowers plants
Contained in galleries: GREECE: Crete / Creta

The purplish-red spathe (specialized leaf or bract) and foul-smelling stench of the dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris, also called dragonwort, dragon lily, or voodoo lily) attracts flies to the base of its erect, flower-bearing spadix in Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete, in Greece, Europe. The purple spadix can reach over a meter long. With an odor of dung or rotting meat, the Dragon Arum entices flies deep inside into the bulbous chamber of its spathe where the flowers are actually located. The insects can sometimes get trapped overnight but are later freed, covered in pollen to find other flowers for pollination.