Common Names

Cocky baby
Cuckoopint
Cypress powder
Dragon root
Gaglee
Ladysmock
Portland arrowroot
Starchwort
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Parts Usually Used

Rootstock
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Arum is a perennial plant; its tuberous rootstock is poison when fresh but edible when dried or sufficiently cooked. It is about the size of a walnut and is brown outside, white inside. Arum's arrowhead-shaped leaves are also poisonous when eaten. Its flowers, which bloom in May and June, trap insects which the plant digests for food.

Other varieties: Wake robin or Jack in the pulpit (A. triphyllum); Dragon or Green arum (A. dracontium)
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Where Found

It grows in moist, shady places, along hedges, among bushes, and in deciduous forests.
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Medicinal Properties

Acrid when fresh, diaphoretic, expectorant
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Uses

Only the dried root should be used.

Arum is used mixed with honey or syrup for internal use and as an ointment for external use. Internally, used for bronchitis, asthma, chronic catarrh, flatulence, and rheumatic problems. A 1:1 mixture of arum and sweet flag in powder form is sometimes recommended as a stomachic. An ointment made from arum is useful for sores and ringworm, swellings. Simmer arum with cumin in wine or oil to make a plaster. Only the dried root should be used.
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Warning

The whole plant of arum is poisonous. Only the root, dried and/or sufficiently cooked, should be used. Recommended use of arum only under medical supervision.
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Bibliography

• Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke, Plate 16, pg., 202.
• The Herb Book, by John Lust, pg., 103.
• Indian Herbalogy of North America, by Alma R. Hutchens, pg., 112.
• Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, pg., 78.

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