DRACUNCULUS VULGARIS

Family and Genus:- See- ARACEAE

Common Name:- Dragon arum

Homotypic Synonyms:- Aron dracunculum, Arum dracunculus, Arum

guttatum, Dracunculus dracunculus, Dracunculus spadiceus.

Meaning:- Dracunculus (Gr) Little-dragon, (reference to the serpentine roots).

Vulgaris (L) Common, vulgar.

General description:- Tall, tuberous, robust perennial.

Stem:-

1) To 1m, occasionally taller, thick, formed, from the leaf-stalks and flower-stem.

strongly blotched.

Leaves:-

1) Lamina, 15-20 x 25-35 cm. more or less reniform in outline.

a) segments 9-15, elliptical to oblong-lanceolate, acute, deep green, often with

white streaks.spotted with dark purple.

b) petiole, with a long, wide sheathing base, concealing the base of the leafless

scape, so as to make some leaves appear to be borne on the stem.

Flower:-

1) Spathe, 20-40(-55) cm. glabrous, with the abaxial surface greenish and adaxial

dark brownish-purple, upper part lanceolate, erect; margins undulate.

2) Spadix, erect and very stout, tapered to the tip; with male and female zones

almost contiguous, deep maroon-black, shiny, velutinous, foul smelling.

a) sterile flowers, few. sometimes absent.

Fruit:-

1) Berries, borne in a large oblong head, orange-red when ripe.

Key features:-

1) Adaxial surface of the spathe and appendix of the spadix smooth and glabrous.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Rocky places, scrub, fields, roadsides, hedgerows, dry hillsides, up to

1200 m.

Distribution:- Algeria, Corsica and Sardinia eastwards to Turkey, including Crete,

but not Cyprus. Widespread and common on Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-July.

Photo by:- Steve Lenton