Juliet took us on a late afternoon hike through a small ancient town high up on a ridge. She shared much about the local foliage as well as the ancient ruins of walls from many eras including Helenic, Venetian, Doric, and others. One of the wildflowers that we found most interesting and unusual was the “draconous” lily or as they call it the “stink horn”. We were lucky enough, later in the week, to find one fully in bloom, standing about 3 or 4 feet tall, with dragon like markings on the thick stalk. The flower they produce looks like a giant eggplant colored horn with a yellow flower in the middle- and the foul stench exuded helped up to quickly understand where the name “stink horn” had come from! Whew! Both beautiful and beastly at the same time.
Dave and Juliet, oddly enough, have chosen the name draconous for their somewhat ferile tomcat, we think the name fits as we hear that he has sired most of the kittens in the local region despite his fierce aloof mannerisms.