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Dracunculus vulgaris

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A wild one I found in Greece.

Author:  Heinrich Wilhelm Schott, 1832
Family:  ARACEAE
Origin:  Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Corse, East Aegean Island, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Sardegna, Sicilia, Turkey, Yugoslavia
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  20 Centimetres
Height:  30-40 (-180) Centimetres
Flower:  Dark Purple / Black
Propagate:  Seeds/Bulbs
Names:  Dragon Arum, Drakondia
Synonyms:  Arum dracunculus, L. 1753.
Aron dracunculum,
St.-Lag.
Arum guttatum,
Salisb.
Dracunculus creticus,
Schott.
Dracunculus dracunculus,
Voss.
Dracunculus major,
Garsault.
Dracunculus polyphyllus,
Blume.
Dracunculus spadiceus.
Raf.

This member of the Araceae family was described by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in 1832, and is found in the Mediterranean and Algeria, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The bulb will grow to 20 centimetres in diameter, the leaf-like stem to 40 or even up to 180 centimetres. The flower stinks, and are dark purple and almost black. It can be reproduced by seeds and bulbs.

The genera name means 'little dragon-plant'. The species name means 'common'.

This plant has a sub-terrain bulb, and is a little out of my league, but I saw it in Greece, and was very fascinated! (The bulb is buried deep in hard soil, and I did not dig down to it!)