What's this little plant?

[PigletJohn]

Seems to be covered in berries. It seeded itself in a neglected corner. About 8 inches tall.

TIA

Arum Lilly

Also known as Lords and Ladies. www.gardensillustrated.com/plants/arums-lords-ladies-cuckoo-control-grow

Well fancy that!

Thanks.

Be warned, every single one of those berries will turn into a new plant and in a years time you will be over run with them, so unless you have a couple of hundred acres to play with make sure you get rid of every berry.

in the spring arum lilies have lovely leaves and then grow rather elegant flowers, which I think are technically called spathes. The Italian ones have variegated leaves ,but yours is the common one.

Yes arum Lilly, it’s one of the most gorgeous weeds with big glossy leaves and those berries. Sadly it’s considered invasive, but one of my friends has some in her garden and they haven’t taken over (yet) - they just grow where nothing else is planted. You can also buy them from some garden centres, so whether it’s a weed depends on whether you like them ☺️

Not Arum Lily (Zantedischia sp, a houseplant), Wild Arum, Arum maculatum. Aka Lord and Ladies, Jack in the Pulpit and many other names.

The flower is fly pollinated, so tries to kid the fly that it’s tasty meat, which it does by raising the temperature inside the spathe - sometimes enough for you to imagine that you can feel a slight warmth if you put your finger inside the spathe.

As to invasiveness - my mother had one in the orchard for over 50 years. One. She made no attempt to control it. The reason it grows under trees and bushes is because it dislikes competition.

@PigletJohn be very careful, it's toxic, not just to ingest but also an irritant to touch. I'd get rid of it and protect myself from any contact in the process.

Arum maculatum - Wikipedia

Toxicityedit]
All parts of the plant can produce allergic reactions in many people and the plant should be handled with care.
The attractive berries are extremely poisonous to many animals, including humans, but harmless to birds, which eat them and propagate the seeds.[9] They contain oxalates of saponins, which have needle-shaped crystals that irritate the skin, mouth, tongue, and throat, and result in swelling of throat, difficulty breathing, burning pain, and upset stomach. However, their acrid taste, coupled with the almost immediate tingling sensation in the mouth when consumed, means that large amounts are rarely taken and serious harm is unusual.[12] It is one of the most common causes of accidental plant poisoning based on attendance at hospital emergency departments.[16]
There is no known antidote to A. maculatum poisoning. Airway management may reduce the mortality, and aggressive fluid administration may prevent renal injury.[12]

Lords and ladies is a cheeky reference to genitals as the flower form looks like a vulva and the berry stage looks like a .....

Cuckoo pint is similar …

@heldinadream As it says in your quote, “serious harm is unusual”. So I suppose it depends whether it’s somewhere it can be left undisturbed or not.

Must be warty.

Arums and, in fact, all the aroid species are fascinating and beautiful plants and I have over 40 species, from around the world, in my collection, the most spectacular being the Dragon Arum and the aptly named Dead Horse Arum, both of which, when in flower, stink to high heaven of carrion. As @MereDintofPandiculation said, they are fly pollinated and produce a rotten meat smell as well as producing heat to mimic a rotting animal carcass in order to attract their pollinators.

Removing the seed spike from Arum maculatum will make no difference to stopping its spread as, like all arums, the mother bulb will produce numerous offsets anyway! In any event, why prevent it spreading, they are a beautiful plant, in early spring, and, since they prefer shade, its spread will be self limiting where conditions are too dry or sunny for it to thrive. I love 'em!