Voodoo Lily

Dragon lily, snake lily, vampire lily....you get the drift. There is a secret spot on my walk downtown where this plant comes up every year, and here it is! It is said to have a distinctly unpleasant smell of rotting meat to attract pollinators, but I've never encountered it. The soft petal is the most gorgeous deep red-purple velvet, and the stamen is like a polished Japanese eggplant. All of that lusciousness against the bright green is almost too much to bear.