Araceae
Arum italicum Mill.
SUMMARY
Tuberous herb sprouting in early autumn or early winter from a rhizomatous tuber 3.5-7,5 cm long, 1.3-3 cm thick. Petiole terete to slightly D-shaped in cross-section, 15-35(-40) cm long, 5-9(-12) mm wide, deep to mid-green, rarely dull purple. Leaf-blade narrowly or broadly hastate or sagittate-hastate or ovate oblong, apex acute to obtuse, 9-35(-40) cm long, 2-29 cm wide, plain deep green or with primary and main lateral veins slightly to heavily silver-grey, cream or yellowish green, more rarely blade marked with irregular black-purple spots or cloudy silver-grey blotches, or in various shades of green and white, or a combination of any of these. INFLORESCENCE smelling strongly of stale urine or occasionally reminiscent of pineapple and citrus. Peduncle much shorter than the leaves, terete, 4.6-16 cm long, 6-11 mm wide, pale to mid-green, rarely dull purple. Spathe 11-27(-38) cm long; spathe-tube oblong-ventricose, 3-5(-7) cm long, 1.5-2.5(-3.5) cm wide, constricted apically, exterior pale to mid-green, sometimes stained brownish purple at the base and along the margins, interior greenish white, sometimes stained with purple apically, rarely entirely purple; spathe-limb elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-ovate or broadly elliptic, 9-24.5(-31) cm long, 4-11 cm wide, erect, acute to acuminate, the tip drooping soon after opening, externally greenish white, occasionally flushed with brownish purple towards the margins and along the mid-vein, internally very pale green to almost white, sometimes stained with brownish purple along the margins, entire limb with a translucent quality. Spadix ¼ - ? as long as the spathe-limb, 4.4-14 cm in total length; appendix clavate, long-stipitate, 3-10 cm long, 4-10 mm wide, pale to dark yellow or dull tawny brown, stipe sometimes pale. Staminodes in 2-5 whorls forming a zone 4-10 mm long; bristles filiform, flexuous, 3.5-5 mm long, cream; bases conical, ± verrucate. Interstices: upper 1.5-5 mm long, longitudinally ridged, sometimes obscurely so, pale cream, lower 0-3 mm long, with slight longitudinal ridging and some vestigial pistillodes bases, cream. Staminate flowers in a oblong zone 3-6 mm long, 5-9.5 mm wide; anthers and connectives pale to mid-yellow. Pistillodes in 3-4 whorls, forming a zone 2.5-3 mm long; bristles filiform, flexuous, 3-5.5 mm long, cream basally, paler apically; bases conic to bulbiform, verrucate to smooth, pale to mid-yellow. Pistillate flowers in an oblong-cylindric cluster 9-14 mm long; ovaries ovoid-oblong, 2-3 mm long, pale green to off-white; stigma slightly darker. Fruiting spike oblong-cylindric, 5-9(-12) cm long , 2.5-3 cm wide; berries oblong-pyriform, 4-11 mm long, 3.5-5 mm wide. Germination epigeal or hypogeal in subsp. italicum, unknown in subsp. canariense and subsp. albispathum.