Arum 2009

[Tony Willis]

Oron
I understand your difficulty with the heat.I am so much cooler,it is an easy one with me.Some have escaped into the garden in old potting compost and are becoming a problem

[BULBISSIME]

Tony,

I think you have a nice pest !! 

[Oron Peri]

Two more members from the family:
Arum concinnatum [not at its best] ex Crete.
Dracunculus vulgaris Ex Crete
D. vulgaris with a huge flower, measured 62cm in Rhodos.

[Lesley Cox]

The last one is stunning Oron. Even the leaves are great, with their white marking. Was the smell apalling?

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Isn't Dracunculus in NZ?  I grow it here, and just love it.  Our seem to produce tall stems though, not the short and squat as appear in Oron's pics.  His almost look like a nest of leaves with the flower sitting just above, whereas ours have a stem with leaves up it, topped by a flower.  They can be rather huge, as Oron mentioned.  Smells like something has died!!

[BULBISSIME]

Wonberfull the Rhodos picture Oron !!
This is a really nice plant, except the sweet fragrance 

[Oron Peri]

Lesley and Fred,

I must say that the smell of this species is not that bad, Arum palaestinum for example is ten times worse.
Still people just cant believe their eyes  when Dracunculus is in flower in the garden and don't really notice the odour,

Some times beauty has its costs...

[Paul T]

Oron,

And yet for me here, I can barely smell Arum palaestinum, yet the Dracunculus can be smelt metres away.  I wonder if it has to do with climate, and of course clonal differences?    I also have Helicodicerus muscivorus, and there is barely any smell to it either, yet it is supposed to be horrific.  Probably the worst one that I have come across here is Typhonium brownii, which has the most awful stench. 

[Tony Willis]

Oron super flowers as usual.

Paul that is a very compact dracunculus that Oron has shown although the flower is the normal size.In Crete there are many plants 1.5 metres tall where they are growing in the open.

They do not smell as bad as a lot of the arums particularly dioscoridis.

here is what I think is Arum alpinum which has self seeded in a frame.

[Tony Willis]

another one which has escaped into the garden. It is quite rare in cultivation but is a lovely plant. Similar in appearance to the alpinum but the top of the spathe curls nicely over and it is a richer pink/purple

Arum euxinum originally from Turkey near Lake Abant

[BULBISSIME]

Another great one Tony !
Thank's

[Lesley Cox]

The Dracunculus IS here Paul. I even have it myself, a few tubers, a gift from lurker/poster Andrew Broome, but not flowering yet.

I do like the Arum euxinium.

[Janis Ruksans]

With me first Arums this season opened only yesterday. Few pictures of Cretan species.
Janis

 Arum idaeum from Crete
 Arum creticum N. Stevens form
 Arum creticum FCC form -1
 Arum creticum FCC form -2

[Paul T]

Janis,

Love that delicate colour on the idaeum.  Beautiful.

[BULBISSIME]

I agree Paul, this is one of my favourite species !