![]() One drop of their juice will cause a burning sensation in the mouth and throat for hours. ![]() ![]() In spite of their very acrid taste, they have sometimes been eaten by children, with most injurious results, being extremely poisonous. In autumn, the lowest ring of flowers form a cluster of bright scarlet, attractive berries, which remain long after the leaves have withered away, and on their short, thick stem alone mark the situation of the plant. The spadix may also be yellow, but purple is the more common. The insects are trapped beneath the ring of hairs and are dusted with pollen by the male flowers before escaping and carrying the pollen to the spadices of other plants, where they pollinate the female flowers. Insects, especially owl-midges Psychoda phalaenoides, are attracted to the spadix by its faecal odor. Flowering normally takes place in spring (April–May).Ībove the male flowers is a ring of hairs forming an insect trap. The flowers are hidden from sight, clustered at the base of the spadix with a ring of female flowers at the bottom and a ring of male flowers above them. Leaves are large about 45cm long, shiny ‘arrow’ shaped leaves that are dark green but can be variegated with white or purple patterning or spots.įlowers are borne on a poker-shaped inflorescence called a spadix, which is partially surrounded in a pale green spathe or leaf-like hood. For this purpose, it was either roasted or boiled, and then dried and pounded in a mortar, the skin being previously peeled. This starch of the root, after repeated washing, makes a kind of arrowroot, formerly much prepared in the Isle of Portland, and sold as an article of food under the name of Portland Sago, or Portland Arrowroot, but now obsolete. When baked, the tubers are edible, and from the amount of starch, nutritious. The acridity is lost during the process of drying and by application of heat, when the substance of the tuber is left as starch. The plant only has a flower stem which is about finger thick and upright.Īrum has large tuberous roots, somewhat resembling those of the Potato, oblong in shape, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, brownish externally, white within and when fresh, fleshy yielding a milky juice, almost insipid to the taste at first, but soon producing a burning and pricking sensation. In mature specimens the tuber may be as much as 400 mm below ground level. The plant prefers moist, well-drained and reasonably fertile soils, humus rich soil, and shady damp calcareous soil. The plant is found growing in woods and along shaded ditches and hedgerows on calcareous soil. Similarly the name “lords-and-ladies” and other gender related names refer to the plant’s likeness to male and female genitalia symbolizing copulation.Ĭuckoo Pint (Arum) is a shade-loving tuberous perennial that grows about 30-38cm tall. ![]() Traditionally, these are supposed to be spots of Christ’s blood when the plant grew under the cross but the Latin ‘maculatus’ also means ‘pollute’, ‘taint’ and ‘dishonor’ as well as ‘spot’ so the name is more likely to be a result of the spots spoiling the look of the leaves. Maculatum is ‘speckled’ after the spots which appear on the leaves. Arum is from the Greek word ‘aron’ which is variously described as meaning ‘climbing’ or ‘poisonous plant’. The plant is native to the Southern Europe and northern Africa as well as Turkey and Caucasus. It is known by an abundance of common names including Snakeshead, adder’s root, adder’s meat, arum, wild arum, arum lily, lords-and-ladies, devils and angels, cows and bulls, cuckoo-pint, Adam and Eve, bobbins, naked boys, starch-root, wake robin, friar’s cowl sonsie-give-us-your-hand, cheese and toast and jack in the pulpit, bloody man’s finger, bobbin’ Joan, bobbing Jane, brown dragons, bulls and cows, calf’s foot, cobbler’s thumb, cocky baby, devil’s ladies and gentlemen. Cuckoo Pint (Arum) scientifically known as Arum maculatum is a common woodland plant species of the Araceae family. ![]()
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