Drakontia, also known as arapis ('the Arab', meaning 'black'), in my neighbourhood
When I first came to Hania, I came across this lily, and fell in love with it immediately. With its deep purple colour and impressively patterned leaves, I thought it would make a beautiful centrepiece. My aunt took one look at it and screamed in horror: "Get it out of here!" I quickly discovered that, despite its unique appearance, drankontia (the dragon flower) is so stinky and toxic that not even animals will touch it, which shows how much cleverer they are than the uninitiated human being. Flies are its pollinators: the flower traps them overnight so that they can perform this job; maybe they serve as temporary fly traps in orchards, allowing the trees to maintain their health.
amazing nature!
ReplyDeleteOK that looks scary!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell this Arab is beautiful...great shot...very natural
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful, too bad it's a stinker!
ReplyDeleteI have many in full bloom right now, Seattle/July and OMG. It smells like a decomposing something........
ReplyDeleteAwesome looking. I need to transplant it far away to the corner of the yard.