by Wilbert Hetterscheid

Obviously what I have to tell on this page is based on the publications by Peter Boyce of former Kew lore. The culmination of Peter's work is his book on Arum (which you ALL have.....no doubt!!!). It must have been a joy working on the family-name bringing genus itself! Formerly the Arum-link in the genus list on this website was direcly linked to a paper by Peter on the species of Greece and Cyprus. We have left that paper on the website and you can read it by clicking here.

The species list below contains only partial synonymy. The choice being for those synonyms that regularly appear in literature and discussion. names in Arum of species that belong to other genera are numerous and only few well-known ones have been included.

Relevant recent literature on this genus is:

Boyce, P.C., 1989. A new classification of Arum with keys to the infrageneric taxa. Kew Bull. 44: 383 - 395. (a precursor to his Magnum Opus).

Boyce, P.C., 1993. The genus Arum. HMSO/Kew. 196 pages (if you don't have this, you are not allowed to view these webpages!!).

Boyce, P.C., 1994(-5). The genus Arum (Araceae) in Greece and Cyprus. Ann. Mus. Goulandris 9: 27 - 38. (if, however unlikely it may be..., you couldn't get hold of this journal, click here).

Greuter, W. 1984. Les Arum de la Crete. Bot. Helv. 94: 15 - 22 (in French!! Take a crash course and dive into it!).

Kite, C.G., W.L.A. Hetterscheid, M.J. Lewis, P.C. Boyce, J. Ollerton, E. Cocklin, A. Diaz & M.J. Simmonds, 1998. Inflorescence odours and pollinators of Arum and Amorphophallus (Araceae). In: S.J. Owens & P.J. Rudall (eds.). Reproductive Biology, pp. 295-315. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Prime, C.T., 1960. Lords and ladies. Collins (New Naturalist Series). 241 pages, including some folk history, mostly on A. maculatum.

Arum albispathum Steven ex Ledeb. = A. italicum ssp. albispathum

Arum alpinum Schott & Kotschy = A. cylindraceum

Arum apulum (Carano) P.C. Boyce

Arum amoenum Dubovik

Arum balansanum R.R. Mill

Arum besserianum Schott

Arum byzantinum Bl.

Arum canariense Webb & Berthel. = A. italicum ssp. canariense

Arum cilicicum Kotchy ex Engl. = A. rupicola

Arum concinnatum Schott

Arum conophalloides Kotschy ex Schott = A. rupicola

Arum cornutum (traders' name) = Helicodiceros muscivorus

Arum creticum Boiss. & Heldr.

Arum cylindraceum Gasp.

Arum cyprium Schott = A. dioscoridis var. cyprium

Arum cyrenaicum Hruby/p>

Arum detruncatum C.A. Mey. ex Schott = A. rupicola

-- var. virescens (Stapf) Alpinar & R.R. Mill = A. rupicola var. virescens

Arum dioscoridis Sm.

-- var. cyprium (Schott) Engl.

-- var. philistaeum (Kostchy ex Schott) Engl.

-- var. syriacum (Bl.) Engl.

Arum elongatum Steven

-- ssp. alpinariae Alpinar & R.R. Mill in P.H. Davis

Arum euxinum R.R. Mill

Arum gratum Schott

Arum guttatum Salisb. (often found in the trade of dry tubers/bulbs) = Dracunculus vulgaris

Arum guttatum Wall. = Typhonium venosum

Arum hainesii Riedl

Arum hygrophilum Boiss.

Arum idaeum Coustur. & Gand.

Arum italicum Mill.

-- ssp. albispathum (Steven ex Ledeb.) Prime

-- ssp. byzantinum (Schott) Nyman = A. byzantinum

-- ssp. canariense (Webb & Berthel.) P.C. Boyce

-- var. maculatum Hoschede = A. italicum

-- ssp. neglectum (F. Towns.) Prime

Arum jacquemontii Bl.

Arum korolkowii Regel

Arum kotschyi Boiss. & Hohen. = A. rupicola

Arum lucanum Cavara & Grande = A. cylindraceum

Arum maculatum L. (none of the botanical varieties is kept taxonomically separate by Boyce!!)

Arum nickelii Schott = A. concinnatum

Arum nigrum Schott

-- var. apulum Carano = A. apulum

Arum orientale M. Bieb.

-- ssp. albispathum (Steven ex Ledeb.) Nyman = A. italicum ssp. albispathum

-- ssp. besserianum (Schott) Holub = A. besserianum

-- ssp. longispathum (Rchb.) Engl.

-- ssp. lucanum (Cavara & Grande) Prime = A. lucanum

-- var. sintenisii Engl. = A. sintenisii

Arum palaestinum

Arum pictum L. f.

Arum purpureospathum P.C. Boyce

Arum rupicola Boiss.

-- var. virescens (Stapf) P.C. Boyce

Arum sintenisii (Engl.) P.C. Boyce

Arum x sooi Terpo

Arum venosum Dryand. ex Aiton = Typhonium venosum

Arum wettsteinii Hruby = A. concinnatum

Aroideana has 17 articles on Arum. Click Here to see them all.

Please send any comments to