The Arum Family
(Araceae)
Family Description
These plants are very ornamental, as they have a large fleshy, often brightly coloured leaf, which surrounds a flower spike.
They have underground rhizomes or tubers.
Most of the members of this family are found in hot tropical countries, but some can be found in Britain.
Lords & Ladies
Arum maculatum
This is a perennial plant with an underground tuber.
It has a large specialised leaf, known as a spathe, which surrounds a long fruit spike.
Habitat
Woodland and hedgerows.
Special features
These plants have small flowers, which are either male or female (unusual for flowering plants).
The leaves are arrow-shaped, and are shiny bright green. Many of them are covered with small black splotches.
Reproduction
Dissected
Lords & Ladies
with
outer leaf removed.
The flowers are tiny, and grow packed together along a spike. The Lords and Ladies plant has an ingenious way of ensuring successful pollination.
Insects are attracted to the plant's scent, and are trapped by downward-pointing hairs inside the base of the spathe.
The frustrated
insect walks around inside, brushing past female flowers.
As it does so, pollen from the insect's body, brushes onto the female
flowers and fertilises them.
Once the female flowers are fertilised, the male flowers rain pollen onto the trapped insect.
Later, at night, the plant's spathe loosens, so the insect can escape. The insect later finds its way to other Lords and Ladies plants, and again become trapped, transferring pollen to the new plant, in the same way as before.
After fertilisation, fleshy orange berries develop, containing the seeds.
Seasonal
Flowers appear in April and May.
Geographical
Most members of this family live in hot tropical countries. However, some can be found in Europe including Britain.
