Snakeshead
Scientific name: Arum maculatum L.
Family: Araceae
MORPHOLOGY
Growth habit and size: Perennial herbaceous plant, with fasciculated roots, ovoid tuberous rhizome, brown on the outside, white on the inside, from which leaves emerge. Height 20-40 cm.
Stem: The stem is scaly at the base, compressed within the leaf petioles, ending in a spadix enclosed by a large spathe.
Leaves: The spring leaves are long (approximately double the length of the lamina), petiolate, arrow-shaped with dark or blackish spots on the upper surface (leaf spotting is not a constant characteristic).
Flowers: The inflorescence is protected by a leaf-like sheath called a spathe, which is lanceolate-acuminate, greenish white, sometimes tinged with purple on the edge and spotted with the same color inside; it is up to 15 cm long and constricts at the base, assuming a characteristic shape. The spathe protects the inflorescence called a spadix, composed of female flowers at the base, male flowers in the center, and sterile flowers, swollen into thick, bulbous filaments, at the apex. The apical part of the spadix is club-shaped, bare, and purplish violet. The flower emits an unpleasant odor that, however, attracts pollinating insects; the spadix also produces heat during full anthesis. Blooms from March to May.
Fruits and seeds: The fruits are red berries, highly poisonous, containing many seeds; fruit ripening occurs only after the entire plant has withered.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Widespread throughout Italy, often found in ditches, manure heaps, along roadsides, beech forests, clearings, coppice forests, shady shrubby areas, at altitudes between 0 and 1,600 m.
USE
It is an anti-rheumatic and antigout plant, the use of which is strongly discouraged. In homeopathy, it is used in the case of mucosal and respiratory tract diseases. The juice of the fresh plant, mixed with lard, was reportedly applied locally in the treatment of ringworm. The entire plant has a spicy taste due to the presence of calcium citrate. Skin contact can cause irritation, ingestion causes burning in the mouth and throat, vomiting, bleeding, in severe cases paralysis, sometimes with fatal outcomes. Before taking any plant-based product (medicinal or non-medicinal) for therapeutic or similar purposes, it is always advisable to consult your doctor.
INTERESTING FACTS
The rhizome contains up to 70% starch: after cooking, which neutralizes toxins and the flavor, an edible substance is obtained, which was once used to extend flour and was sold as starch, under the name “Portland tapioca”. In France and England in the Elizabethan era, the starch obtained from the rhizome was used to stiffen the ruffled collars of nobles and the cuffs of shirts. This caused serious irritation to the hands of those who used it, so it stopped being used. In some areas of France, the mucilaginous juice of the plant, after a process that lasted several weeks, was used as a substitute for soap. In some German countries, the juice of the berries was used by girls as an inexpensive rouge. Records from the late 18th century indicate that the Delaware Indians used Gigaro as a drastic purgative in cases of constipation. The root was consumed both as food and as medicine by the Iroquois Indians. In ancient times, Gigaro was considered a magical plant, which chased away evil spirits and protected babies in the cradle, bringing love to those who were unlucky in love!
Photo: Under a free license from Saxifraga, Peter Meininger, Jan van der Straaten, Ed Stikvoort, Piet Zomerdijk
