Wild Flower Lord and Ladies Arum maculatum Seeds

Wild Flower – Lord and Ladies – Arum Maculatum

The flowers of this strange-looking plant form a purple-brown tubular structure, which smells slightly of decay and is shielded by a pale green sheath. The flowers appear during April and May and are followed by clusters of poisonous bright orange-red berries.

Lords and Ladies will take quite a long time to grow from seed and may take seven years to flower. This slow growth rate is in part due to the seedlings’ heavy dependence upon a mycorrhizal association (fungi found in the soil that help the plant take up nutrients through its roots). Because of this seed is probably best sown where intended rather than in a pot. Sowing should take place in the autumn.