Arum italicum Mill.

Italian lords-and-ladies (en), Gouet ditalie (fr), Pied-de-veau (fr), Gouet d'Italie (fr), Arum d’Italie (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Alismatales > Araceae > Arum

Characteristics

Herb to c. 40 cm tall; stem a creeping hypogeal tuberous rhizome. Leaves several together; petiole to c. 35 cm long; blade narrowly to broadly hastate or hastosagittate, to c. 35 cm long, deep green, usually variegated with whitish on main veins, rarely blotched black, white, pale green or grey-green. Inflorescence on peduncle much shorter than petioles; spathe to c. 30 cm long, constricted c. 5 cm from base; limb ±elliptic, erect then drooping soon after opening, greenish white, sometimes flushed purplish brown near margins and midline; spadix ¼–1/3 length of spathe; female zone c. 1 cm long; lower sterile zone c. 3 mm long, a few whorls of filiform, cream bulbous-based neuter organs with a very short (0–3 mm) naked zone above; male zone 4–10 mm long, wider than long, pale to mid yellow; distal to male zone a naked zone 1.5–5 mm long then a few whorls of cream filiform bulbous-based neuter organs; appendix clavate, long-stipitate, 3–10 cm long, dark yellow. Fruiting spike 5–9 (–12) cm long, persisting long after leaves have withered.
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Erect tuberous perennials, 25-60 cm high, leaves appearing in late autumn and through winter; flowering in spring, the leafless scape with scarlet berries conspicuous in late summer. Tuber c. 4 cm diam., producing small tubers. Leaves large; laminae hastate, to 30 cm long, dark green with lighter yellow-green midrib and main veins; petioles 20-40 cm long, lower half membranous, sheathing, purple-tinged. Spathe ± translucent, pale whitish-green, purple-tinged near base especially on inside, c. 30 × 15 cm; scape < petiole, greenish to reddish. Spadix ± ⅓ of spathe; basal female zone ± 2 cm long, a few sterile flowers above them; upper male zone c. 0.8 cm long, with narrow band of sterile flowers below terminal, stipitate, yellow sterile appendage. Berries 1 cm diam., bright red.
A bulb plant. It grows 25-30 cm high and spreads 15-20 cm wide. The leaves are glossy and with white veins. They have wavy edges and are shaped like a spear head. The flower has a hood like spathe around a central column. The spathe is 15-30 cm long. It droops at the pointed tip. The fruit are bright orange berries. They are in a fruiting spike 10-15 cm long.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality monoecy
Pollination entomogamy
Spread endozoochory
Mature width (meter) 0.15 - 0.3
Mature height (meter) 0.25 - 0.4
Root system rhizome
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

It is a temperate plant. It suits moist shaded places. It suits hardiness zones 6-10.
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Stony ground near the sea, hedges and among old walls, often on calcareous soils.
Light 3-8
Soil humidity 2-6
Soil texture 2-5
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 6-8

Usage

The running rootstock is gathered, dried and ground to a powder then mixed with the flour of barley or wheat. The root is cooked and eaten. It is cooked for a long time in several changes of water. The leaves are chopped and mixed with egg to prepare an omelet. CAUTION: This plant is poisonous.
Uses environmental use material medicinal poison
Edible leaves roots tubers
Therapeutic use Bite(Snake) (unspecified), Cacoethes (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified), Carcinoma (unspecified), Dyspepsia (unspecified), Expectorant (unspecified), Incisive (unspecified), Palsy (unspecified), Poison (unspecified), Polyp(Nose) (unspecified), Rheumatism (unspecified), Stroke (unspecified), Ulcer (unspecified), Vesicant (unspecified)
Human toxicity very strong toxic (leaf)
Animal toxicity strong toxic (leaf)

Cultivation

Plants are grown from tubers. They are planted 5-7.5 cm deep. Plants are spaced 20-30 cm apart.
Mode seedlings tubers
Germination duration (days) 30 -
Germination temperacture (C°) 12 - 18
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -23
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Arum italicum habit picture by Jean-Francois Julien (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum habit picture by Ernst Fürst (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum habit picture by Tristan Jaton-Maria (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Arum italicum leaf picture by camille savary (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum leaf picture by Plantae Lucorum (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum leaf picture by Eugenio (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Arum italicum flower picture by Michael Worms (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum flower picture by brigitte zanella (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum flower picture by Jean-Francois Julien (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Arum italicum fruit picture by Pepe Diego (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum fruit picture by cerkill (cc-by-sa)
Arum italicum fruit picture by Gregory Bignon (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Arum italicum world distribution map, present in Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Switzerland, Cyprus, Algeria, Spain, France, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Morocco, Nicaragua, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tunisia, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:86047-1
WFO ID wfo-0000279414
COL ID H2PT
BDTFX ID 7024
INPN ID 84110
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Arum foetidum Arisarum italicum Arum italicum Arum italicum f. purpurascens Arum provinciale Arum italicum var. concolor Arum italicum var. facchinii Arum italicum subsp. gaibolense Arum italicum var. hercegovinum Arum italicum var. immaculatum Arum italicum var. intermedium Arum italicum var. maculatum Arum italicum var. parvulum Arum italicum var. yvesii Arum maculatum var. italicum

Lower taxons

Arum italicum subsp. albispathum Arum italicum subsp. canariense Arum italicum subsp. neglectum Arum italicum subsp. italicum