ID Solved. Thanks everyone
walked past the spot for many years and never saw it before. I is really gorgeous but smells like a sewer. I believe it is a lily but I think it is one of those that captures bugs and just reeks.
This message was edited Jun 19, 2009 8:58 AM
What is this beautiful but very stinky flower
whoops I forgot the photo
Oh yea, I forgot to add that it is growing at the base of a lilac tree. I guess if it timed it right the lilacs would hide the odor.
Ewww..! That's Amorphophallus.
Edited to add that there's a reason it's called 'the corpse flower'. Hope you're not down-wind. ;)
This message was edited Jun 18, 2009 10:44 PM
I got very close when I snap the pics and yes, it has a very foul smell.
I gave a bulb of Amorphophallus to one of my neighbors a few years back because they liked the looks of mine. Forgot to warn them that it need to be outside when blooming. They put it in their basement over winter and when it bloomed they were searching all over for rotten meat because that's what it smelled like to them. They are interesting plants.
I tried growing it in my bathroom as a house plant... needless to say it didn't stay very long when it started blooming.
Well, I guess if you are going to grow a stinky plant inside, the bathroom would be the place to do it. I can't even fathom how horrible that must have been when you discovered how awful they smell.
Well when I came home from work and opened the front door... it was pretty obvious!
Ewwwww.......who did it?
Its not Amorphophallus, it is a hardy cousin, Dracunculus vulgaris. I finally had my plants bloom this year--the flower is huge, very impressive looking. Its worth growing, even with the smell (which does seem to fade after the first day or two). One flower is now finished, the other will probably open tomorrow. I've heard that washing the flower removes the odor, can't say for sure if it works, never tried it. Cool plant, should be more popular.
Thanks for the clarification.