On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:02:29 +0100, bob wrote:

On Sun, 27 Feb 2011 10:53:11 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article , bob says...

- is this a weed? Very spinachy feel and look...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10508583/is%...20a%20weed.jpg

It looks like wild arum aka cuckoopint. The leaves and berries are
toxic.

Janet


- thanks Janet.

Would you say it's invasive?

Arum maculatum (to use it's latin name) is a perennial hedgerow plant.
It's not invasive in the sense of a single plant spreading itself all
over the place though a single plant will get bigger as it matures.
Removing a mature plant can involve a bit of digging as it's root is a
tuber (edible when cooked the right way) that will gradually push
deeper and eventually be over a foot underground. However it will
produce a mass of the characteristic red berries in the autumn and if
these are spread then it will also spread of course.

Reputedly it attracts rodents who eat the berries and don't seem to be
affected by them, though it is listed as poisonous to rabbits. I
wonder if it's an old wives' tale that rodents eat the berries and
then excrete the indigestible seeds some way away and so spread it. If
you have young children (or rabbits) get rid of it now. Similarly if
it's growing in a closely cultivated area it's best to remove it
because of the disturbance that digging down to the deep tuber may
cause later.

Jake