Dear All; Judy's mention of pollination coincides with the 4 th (of 6) flowers on Dracunculus vulgaris. This is a tuberous aroid of the Mediterranean. For years I was frustrated growing this thing until some kind person sent me larger tubers. I realize now that they take years from seed. Much longer than I anticipated. May be might colder climate and they grow slower. The huge maroon-red spathe opens on the first day and attracts more flies than you thought were in the neighborhood. The smell of 'something dead' can be overpowering. Hope for an 'up' wind. But your nose tells you when a new flower has opened. I just recently heard of a couple of intrepid plant hunters who went to the island of Crete while this stinker was in full bloom. There they collected tubers of a pure white-flowered form and other with various white/maroon marbling in the spathe. There are tales of yellow flowers also. The plant typically has white 'chevron' marks on the multi-part foliage and they found some with highly marked 50/50 green/white foliage too. Really well grown healthy specimens there approach 7 ft in bloom. Wow. I can only hope that as they settle in, more variants will get into the hands of good propagators. I didn't learn if the white flowers smelled any better- or worse. Always something new out there. Best Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 E-fax 419-781-8594 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +