''Arum italicum'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of flowering

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

in the family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

, also known as Italian arum and Italian lords-and-ladies. It is native to the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

and much of the Mediterranean region, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and northern Africa. It is also naturalized in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Argentina, North Island New Zealand and scattered locations in North America.

Description

''Arum italicum'' grows high, with equal spread. It blooms in spring with white flowers that turn to showy red fruit. By relative inflorescence height, ''Arum'' species are divided into "cryptic" species, whose inflorescences are borne on a short peduncle amid or below the leaves, and "flag" species, whose inflorescences are above leaf level at the end of long peduncles. ''A. italicum'' is a cryptic species. In 1778,

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

noticed that the

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

of this plant produces heat. ''A. italicum'' generally has a chromosome count of 2n = 84, except that a few subspecies (such as subsp. ''albispathum'') have 2n = 56.

Taxonomy

Within the genus, ''A. italicum'' belongs to subgenus ''Arum'', section ''Arum''. ''Arum italicum'' may hybridize with ''

Arum maculatum ''Arum maculatum'', commonly known as cuckoopint, jack-in-the-pulpit and other names (see common names), is a woodland flowering plant species in the family Araceae. It is native across most of Europe, as well as Eastern Turkey and the Caucasus. ...

''.Plantsman v13:3, p142, September 2014; Royal Horticultural Society The status of two subspecies currently included in ''Arum italicum'', subsp. '' albispathum'' (Crimea to the Caucasus) and subsp. '' canariense'' (Macaronesia), is uncertain and they may represent independent species.

Distribution and habitat

''Arum italicum'' nativity by subspecies is as follows: * ''A. italicum'' subsp. ''italicum'' is native to Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Corse, Cyprus, France, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Morocco, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, and Yugoslavia. * ''A. italicum'' subsp. ''albispathum'' is native to Krym, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, and Turkey. * ''A. italicum'' subsp. ''canariense'' is native to Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira. * ''A. italicum'' subsp. ''neglectum'' is native to Algeria, France, Great Britain, Morocco, and Spain. Subspecies ''italicum'' has a multi-continental introduced presence, including in northeast Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, north New Zealand, and the U.S. states of Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina.

Invasive species

''Arum italicum'' can be invasive in some areas, particularly in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of the United States. It is very difficult to control once established.

Herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weed killers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

kill the foliage of the plant, but may not affect the tuber. Manual control may spread the plants through the dissemination of soil contaminated with bulb and root fragments.

Uses

In Croatia, its corms were eaten in times of famine.

Toxicity

Leaves, fruits and rhizomes contain compounds that make them poisonous. Notably, the plants are rich in

oxalates Oxalate (systematic IUPAC name: ethanedioate) is an anion with the chemical formula . This dianion is colorless. It occurs naturally, including in some foods. It forms a variety of salts, for example sodium oxalate (), and several esters such as ...

. The ingestion of the tuber may be fatal, as it affects the kidneys, digestive tract, and brain.

Cultivation

It is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for traditional and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

shade garden Shade gardens are a type of garden planted and grown in areas with little or no direct sunlight. Shade gardens may occur naturally or by design under trees, as well as on the side of buildings or fences. This style of garden presents certain chall ...

Subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

italicum The Italian electoral law of 2015, also known as ''Italicum'', was an Italian electoral law passed in 2015. The law, which came into force on 1 July 2016, regulated only the election of the Chamber of Deputies, replacing the Italian electoral ...

'' (the one normally grown in

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

) has distinctive pale

vein Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and feta ...

s on the leaves, whilst subspecies ''neglectum'' (known as late cuckoo pint) has faint pale veins, and the leaves may have dark spots. Nonetheless, intermediates between these two subspecies also occur, and their distinctiveness has been questioned. Some gardeners use this arum to underplant with ''

Hosta ''Hosta'' (, synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Funkia'') is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name gibōshi. Hostas are widely cultivated as shade-tolerant foliage plants. The genus is placed ...

'', as they produce foliage sequentially: when the ''Hosta'' withers away, the arum replaces it in early winter, maintaining

ground-cover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the h ...

. Numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

have been developed for garden use, of which ''A. italicum'' subsp. ''italicum'' 'Marmoratum' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Gallery

Arum italicum bulbus.jpg, Corms Cuckoo Pint Arum italicum Leaves 2000px.jpg, Mature leaves Arum italicum Mallorca 003.jpg, Spathe Flowering-fruiting Arum Italicum in the Greek coastal suburbs of Thessaly.jpg, Maturing fruit Aronfrucht3962.jpg, Ripe fruit Estructura floral del Arum - Manuel García González.jpg, Botanical illustration Cuckoo Pint Arum italicum Young Plant 2874px.jpg, Leaves of cultivar 'Marmoratum'

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** ** *

External links

Missouri Botanical Garden - Kemper Center for Home Gardening
- ''Arum italicum''

- ''Arum italicum'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q30968

Cormous plants Flora of Europe Medicinal plants Garden plants of Europe Plant toxins Neurotoxins Plants described in 1768 Taxa named by Philip Miller