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Arum maculatum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Cuckoo-pint or Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum) is a common arum in British woodlands
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| Arum maculatum L. |
Arum maculatum is a member the plant family Araceae. It is a common plant in north temperate Europe and is also known as Lord and Ladies and Cuckoo pint.
The purple spotted leaves appear in the spring followed by the flowers borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The purple spadix is partially enclosed in, a pale green spathe or leaf-like hood.
The root-tube may be very big and is used to store starch. In mature specimens the tuber may be as much as 400 mm below ground level.
All parts of the plant can produce allergic reactions in many people and the plant should be handled with care. Many small rodents appear to find the spadix particularly attractive and it is common to find examples of the plant with much of the spadix eaten away. The spadix produces heat and probably scent as the flowers mature and it may be this that attracts the rodents.
The Arum Maculatum is also known as the cuckoo pint in the British Isles and is named thus in Nicholas Culpepers' famous 16th Century herbal.
The root of the cuckoo pint roasted well is edible and this ground root was once traded under the name of Portland sago, it was used like salop or salep (a working class drink popular before the introduction of tea or coffee) it was also used as a substitute for arrowroot.
- Arum maculatum (TSN 185363). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on September 25, 2006.
Media on Arum maculatum in the Wikicommons.
