What Are Arum Plants?

Background

• Arum plants tend to have lush foliage year-round. They grow from corms, a tuber, that sends up shoots that unfurl into shiny, tropical leaves. The blooms tend to appear exotic, with a thick skirt-shape surrounding a prominent spadix, although arum italicum has one of the most unassuming blooms, with pale green spathes, a sort of long limp petal folded back from the spadix. Although the blooms of arum plants look like individual flowers, they are actually inflorescences -- a group of separate flowers. The Titan arum and smaller arum plants contain female flowers and male stamens.

Types

• Arum italicum, commonly known as Italian arum or Italian lords and ladies, can become invasive. It has rich foliage with pale veins on dark green leaves. It blooms in early summer and produces a feces-like odor to attract insect pollinators. It grows throughout the Mediterranean from Turkey to North Africa, according to the University of Arkansas Extension website. Other arum plants include Arum maculatum, cuckoo pint, Arum palestinum and Solomon's lily. Arum blooms tend to have a dramatic upright or curly spadix, the reproductive organ of the arum plant.

Titan Arum

• This exotic plant grow from a tuber than can weigh more than 170 lbs. Its rotting-flesh odor attracts carrion beetles and flesh flies for pollination. It's native to Sumatra, and a number of American botanical gardens cultivate this rare plant and exhibit it when it blooms. The inflorescence lasts only three to five days. Aside from its brief blooming period, the plant produces a single, enormous leaf that can grow to 20 feet tall and 15 feet across in its native habitat, according to the University of Wisconsin website.

Consideration

• Arum plants tend to be hardy, and certain varieties such as Italian arum and cala lilies tolerate cold as outdoor plants. Philodendrons provide a tropical foliage accent and work well as houseplants.

  Misting indoor arum plants provides them with humidity and helps to remove dust from the leaves. Flushing potted arum plants with water monthly helps to prevent salt buildup in the soil.

  Beetles and flies enter the spathe of an arum plant's bloom, attracted by the scent. The stamens release pollen and the insects cross-pollinate the female flowers that grow on the spadix below the stamens. The pollinators fertilize the flowers, ensuring reproduction.