Arum italicum is one of the loveliest weeds to ever grace my garden. I simply hate how beautiful it is. The white-veined flowers and striking spikes of colorful berries are a feast for the eyes, particularly when you are pulling out fistfuls of them because they sprout easily from tiny tubers that are often shockingly deep in the soil. It is incredibly persistent and basically immune to drought, with a special ability to seemingly disappear for months before popping up again when you have finally put up your feet and started your winter rest from garden work.
Because of its attractiveness, it has been exported all over the world. In the PNW it is very invasive and particularly good at invading forested areas and shady gardens, regardless of moisture level.
But can you eat it?
No! Well, maybe. It contains oxalates in the form of nasty crystals called raphides, causing burning and pain in tissue exposed to it. I can vouch that they will even sting exposed skin if you weed without gloves, though I do it all the time and still have only really had it happen once or twice.
But wait…taro is very edible and quite delicious. Taro leaves and roots are irritating to the point of being toxic if eaten raw, and require special preparation. A very close relative, Arum maculatum, has a history of edible use in several countries and is a close enough relative to be able to hybridize with Italian Arum. Might Italian arum be the same?
Italian arum is listed by PFAF, a source I have many strong reservations about, as being edible if cooked. The arum family are generally toxic but have many edible members that simply require extended cooking or water changes. These plants have a long history of use and have been very important food plants for a variety of cultures.
As it turns out, Italian arum also has a history of edible use and is still used as a food source in some countries, with some big caveats. Much like taro the leaves and rhizomes do seem to have been used with some regularity as food, particularly the corms. The corms have also been used like arrowroot or konjac as a source of starch. The big caveat is that the plant was always cooked, thoroughly, often in one or more changes of water or after treatment with long soaks in water.
So should you eat Italian Arum?
Probably not, unless you are feeling real experimental, have done a good amount of research on proper preparation of the plant, and either have a lot of money or live in a country with a decent healthcare system. Or, of course, if you have nothing else and are starving: Arum italicum has repeatedly been used as a famine food over the centuries and I can find no reports of death due to the plant. It seems that people use both Italian arum and its relatives as food even today, and reports of poisoning are rare despite the plant being widespread in its range. It has many edible relatives, all quite toxic raw but perfectly edible after processing.
I can’t recommend consuming it, though, not just because the plant can cause severe irritation and even poisoning when raw – oxalate is a poison in large amounts – but also because of worrying reports that the plant might contain other toxins, even ones similar to the deadly coniine – though I have not found much direct evidence that this the case and a report on the chemicals present in the plant failed to find it. I would also expect a plant with that dangerous a chemistry to have caused human death, examples of which I have failed to find.
That being said, I don’t think the rather unremarkable starchy taste is a great reason to take the risk of eating this plant without extenuating circumstances, though I strongly suspect the plant is edible with the kinds of processing that would make taro edible. It’s a rather pernicious invasive and should probably simply be removed outside of its native range and replaced with something a bit safer and less weedy.
Note: I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. I’m also not a priest, so there is very little I can do for you if you eat a dangerous plant. Please do not eat any plant mentioned here, or in general, without full confidence that it is safe to eat and after having done your own research regarding the safety and edibility of said plant. I am not responsible for any bad reaction to any of the plants listed above, since I’m assuming that theoretical discussions of the edibility of a plant are just that, theoretical, and practical discussions of edibility will be limited to plants that have a long record of human consumption. If you are seeing this message, this plant is probably toxic or dangerous in some way. Don’t eat it unless you are willing to be responsible for the consequences, have a very firm grasp on the ID of the plant in question, and know for sure that your preparation method renders the plant completely safe.
Sources:
Paura B, Di Marzio P. Making a Virtue of Necessity: The Use of Wild Edible Plant Species (Also Toxic) in Bread Making in Times of Famine According to Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti (1766). Biology (Basel). 2022 Feb 11;11(2):285. doi: 10.3390/biology11020285. PMID: 35205151; PMCID: PMC8869735.
Demir, Esra, et al. “Nutrient and bioactive substance contents of edible plants grown naturally in Salıpazarı (Samsun).” Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Hortorum Cultus 19.1 (2020): 151-160.
Nature’s Secret Larder – Cuckoo Pint (Arum maculatum) (naturessecretlarder.co.uk)
Tırşik Soup (Andırın Kahramanmaraş) – lezzetler.com -recipe in Turkish using the very, very, very well cooked leaves)
Arum italicum Italian lords and ladies, Italian Arum PFAF Plant Database
PhytoN-ArumitalicumNY_20April (phytoneuron.net)
AD0872850.pdf (dtic.mil) – Report on chemical constituents of A. italicum