Lords and Ladies

The arrow-shaped leaves of Lords and Ladies are a deep green colour. They are often, though not always, spotted with dark blotches, and have a wrinkled surface. A large yellowgreen bract (spathe) pushes up from the base of the plant and unfurls to reveal the club-shaped, brown flower spike (spadix).

This is warm and scented to attract flies down to the true flowers, which are hidden in the bulge below. The green parts of the plant die off but the flowers remain to form berries in late summer, which brighten from green to orange-red.

LEAVES : Basal, arrow-shaped and wrinkled; dark green, often with dark blotches.

FLOWER SIZE : Spathe 10–20cm long.

FLOWERING TIME : ;April–May.

PLANT HEIGHT : 15–35cm.

FRUIT : Red berries.

SIMILAR SPECIES : Bog Arum is smaller; Large Cuckoo Pint has white-veined leaves and a larger spike of berries.