Arum Lily
Arum maculatum
TOXIC SPECIES
Alternative names: Cuckoo Pint, Lords and Ladies , Jack in the Pulpit, Devils and Angels, Red-Hot-Poker, Willy Lily, Snake’s Pit, Cows and Bulls
A plant with many suggestive names thanks to it’s appearance, Arum (Arum maculatum) is a commonly found, highly toxic plant of woodlands and hedgerows. Despite all parts of the plant being toxic, the root of Arum was once baked, ground and used as a substitute for arrowroot. The bitter taste resulted in it being demoted to use as a starch for ruffs, this isn’t recommended thanks to the skin blistering effects it has.
Where Does Arum Grow?
Woods, hedgerows and wet ground are the main habitat of this plant, which is found across the UK, often in abundance.
Is Arum Edible?
No. Arum, although rather attractive to look at with it’s unique flower followed by bright red berries, is recognised as deadly toxic, although not quite to the guaranteed level as in Hemlock Water-Dropwort (chosen by Socrates as his death sentence). The main toxin appears to be long crystals of calcium oxalate which cause extreme irritation to lips, mouth and throat, it also contains saponins and trace amounts of hydrogen cyanide and coniine.
How To Identify Arum
Arum is almost like a tree, in that you can’t rely on one method of identification all year round. It has three separate growth stages- first the arrow-shaped leaves appear early in the year, around February time. They look a little like Common Sorrel when young but sometimes have black spots on them, however these aren’t always present. The flowers appear later once the leaves have matured and are presented on a spike which is shielded on one side by a pale green hood-like structure called a spathe. The flower spike is usually purple, sometimes yellow. The orange to red berries appear in a cluster at the top of a green stalk in Autumn. At a time when there isn’t much colour on the ground, they really stand out.
Potential dangers and misidentification
People can, and do, eat Arum accidentally after misidentifying it as something else- primarily Common Sorrel and Wild Garlic. Thankfully Arum is particularly bitter thanks to it’s toxic make up, and most people won’t get beyond a nibble of the wrong leaf before spitting it out and moving on. If the taste isn’t enough to put them off, then the intense irritation of the lips, mouth and throat does. If eaten in larger amounts it will produce an upset stomach and can result in difficulty breathing due to irritation and swelling of the throat. In worse cases the result is death.
The good thing about Arum is that you can distinguish it from Common Sorrel by the shape of the backward pointing lobes on the leaves. On Common Sorrel these are sharply pointed, whereas on Arum they have rounded tips. This mis-identification can also be avoided by taking note of the habitat in which you find the plant. The confusion with Wild Garlic arises when Arum leaves are young, in the early months of the year both Wild Garlic and Arum start to shoot above ground and the leaves at this stage can look remarkably similar, after a week or so the Arum will develop it’s lobes and be easy to distinguish from Wild Garlic.
***A NOTE OF CAUTION***
Foraging and hunting for wild food is a potentially hazardous activity.
Whilst we do our best to make sure these species and wild food guides are as accurate as possible there is ALWAYS the possibility of the user (or the author…) misidentifying a plant or other item, and the descriptions given might also apply to similar toxic plants.
Common names cannot be relied upon as they change from region to region, and there are some similar names for very different plants. When researching species on the internet you can sometimes find a common name referring to a completely different species to the one you are trying to learn about.
You should always be confident of the identification of a plant, fungus or lichen BEFORE you touch it and especially before you put it anywhere near your mouth.
The best way to do that is by checking with a good wild flower key or identification book, and ideally cross-referencing between more than one book.
Or – as all of the cool people say: Never Munch on a Hunch.
Richard is a UK wilderness skills and outdoor safety instructor with over a decade of experience working on expeditions, in SAR, training the military and emergency services.
A passionate forager, hunter, angler and outdoorsman, he has appeared on television and web series numerous times, and is a regular contributor to podcasts, magazines and other publications.
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