Is the Amazing Flynapping Arum of Sardinia a circus performer?

No, it is a fly-trapping flower that grows in the rocky Mediterranean island soil of Sardinia and Corsica. It is sometimes called the “dead-horse arum” because it smells like a horse carcass. Blowflies are lured into the funnel-like flower, then force their way into the neck and its pitch-dark chamber. Carrying pollen from another plant, they unknowingly pollinate the female flowers at the base of the chamber. Unable to escape from the chamber because it is filled with stiff hairs, the flies remain prisoners until the male flowers above the stiff hairs start to release pollen. Then the hairs wilt and the flies are able to escape, getting dusted with pollen as they fly away.