Arum Lily
About Arum Lily
Originating in South and South-East Africa, Arum lily plants grow to 1.5m high and 1.5m wide. Arum flowers are white or green and white (green goddess), large and dramatic with a central golden yellow spike that tapers to a fine point. The leaves are fleshy, smooth and shiny, shaped like an arrowhead, on a long stalk. Arum lilies are a widespread weed growing in damp areas. They invade gardens, waterways, irrigation ditches, pastures, bush-land and roadside areas, taking over and choking out indigenous plants. They impede water flow. They are considered poisonous to people and all animals.
How it escapes
Arum lilies spread vegetatively (rhizome growth or fragments), and seed carried by water and wind. Many infestations are caused by dumping of soil and garden waste in bush-land areas.
How to keep it in your garden
From September to March
- Cut the flower heads before seeding
- Remove new roots/rhizomes from beneath the soil
- Dispose of rhizomes and soil via council transfer station (not green waste)
- Keep the clump to a manageable size by removing new plants around the existing group