Small smelly aroid

[Tony Willis]

the one thing I can say with certainty is it is not Arum dioscoridis and if it was A. italicum I would be amazed given the colour.
Having seen most arum species in the wild and growing a lot of them, identification is difficult.Unless it is one of the easily identifiable ones such as A. rupicola it is almost always necessary to know what type of tuber it has in addition to the above ground parts and dissect the flower as well.
In the wild plants can be growing a few yards apart and depending on the moisture available and the light levels the same species can vary from a few inches to a couple of feet and so garden cultivation does not always give a good indication of species.

[Oron Peri]

Rodger,

It has to be Arum nigrum by the form and color of the flower.
A beautiful species from the Balkans.

[Maggi Young]

......of course, sometimes it is a blessing not to have a Forum "Scent Here" button..........

[Tony Willis]

Oron that is very definitive!I have moved more towards A. elongatum from around the Black Sea which is on sale in N.America.I think there are too many of these little purple ones to chose from to be able to determine from the photograph.

[Lesley Cox]

(Attachment Link)

......of course, sometimes it is a blessing not to have a Forum "Scent Here" button..........

No, we do need it Maggi. We don't have to click on it after all.

[Oron Peri]

Oron that is very definitive!I have moved more towards A. elongatum from around the Black Sea which is on sale in N.America.I think there are too many of these little purple ones to chose from to be able to determine from the photograph.

Tony

I know to which form you refer, i think it is the one sold by Pacific Rim Native Plants Nursery.
It looks similar but still A. nigrum has this 'baseball glove' shape which only a few species have as in the case of A. italicum and A. concinnatum, all on relatively short pedical.

and.. i said 'it has to be', not it is...

[Rodger Whitlock]

It has to be Arum nigrum by the form and color of the flower.
A beautiful species from the Balkans.

After I sent a copy of the photo to the International Aroid Society for inclusion on their identification page, I looked over the gallery of arum photographs, and A. nigrum was one that caught my eye as a possibility.

When I referred to its resemblance to Aa. italicum and dioscoridis, I meant that the anatomy of the flower - not its size or coloration - reminded me of an arum. The only other aroid genera I am at all familiar with are arisaema and pinellia, and it certainly didn't resemble either of those in its anatomy.

This leaves unsolved the mystery of where this came from. It's in an area where I planted a number of Pinellia species many years ago , so I wonder if it was a stray seed in one of those pots when it came from the nursery. The pinellias didn't survive: soil too wet in winter.

At any rate, Arum nigrum it will be. Thanks again for your help.