Cuckoo Pint

Cuckoo pint at Wylam, Northumberland

Arum maculatum is a woodland flowering plant species in the family Araceae. It is native across most of Europe, as well as Turkey and the Caucasus. It is known by an abundance of common names including Adam and Eve, adder’s meat, adder’s root, arum, wild arum, arum lily, bobbins, cows and bulls, cuckoopint, cuckoo-plant, devils and angels, friar’s cowl, jack in the pulpit, lamb-in-a-pulpit, lords-and-ladies, naked boys, snakeshead, starch-root, and wake-robin. Many names refer to the plant’s appearance; “lords-and-ladies” and many other names liken the plant to male and female genitalia symbolising copulation. Starch-root is a simple description – the plant’s root was used to make laundry starch.

Lords and ladies is a very common plant and not considered at threat.