Arum palaestinum is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant in the genus Arum and the family Araceae. It is also known as black calla, Solomon's lily, priest's hood, noo'ah loof and kardi.[2]
Native to the Mediterranean Basin, it is employed in the Middle East for culinary and medicinal purposes.
Arum berries
Description
Broad leaves of Arum palaestinum
A perennial plant, Arum palaestinum grows up to 10–25 cm (4–10 in) high. It blooms between the months of March and April, by which time the plant is easily recognized by its dark purplish-black spadix enclosed by a reddish-brown spathe.[3][4] The leaves are light green, narrow, and upright with a purplish-black color. The root is tuberous.[5]
Like other members of the genus Arum, this plant gives off a scent that attracts flies, which distribute the pollen; while most other family members smell like dung and carrion, this plant can smell like rotting fruit as well.[6][7]
Taxonomy
The specific epithet is derived from Palestine, and it is native to the Levant and other parts of the Mediterranean Basin, and has been naturalized in North America, North Africa, Europe, Western Asia, and Australia.[1]
Arum palaestinum berries
Distribution and habitat
Arum palaestinum is native to the Levant and other parts of the Mediterranean Basin, and has been naturalized in Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, North America, and Australia.[1][8][9]
Toxicity
The species is toxic at low doses, and this has traditionally been considered to be due to oxalate salts,[5] but this is not certain.[10] The leaves of the plant contain calcium oxalate and other toxins that can be removed by leaching.
The symptoms caused by exposure to the raw plant include mucous membrane irritation, and burning, and consuming larger doses causes nausea, diarrhea, and cramping.[10] Because exposure to skin can cause irritation it is often handled lightly, or with gloves.[11]
It is commonly consumed with flat bread or bulgur, and is reported to have a taste similar to Swiss chard.[5][11]
Medicinal uses
In traditional medicine among Palestinians, A. palaestinum extracts have been used for cancer, intestinal worms, infections in open wounds, urinary tract obstructions, and kidney stones, and are thought to strengthen bones.[5][14] Jews in Iraq have used it traditionally for worms, skin sores, syphilis, rheumatism, tuberculosis, and diarrhea.[5] It has also been used for cough and constipation.[5]
Ethnobotanical data have shown that A. palaestinum was reported as one of the most commonly used plants in the West Bank, used by over half of all respondents.[15]
In a recent revision of his book, Killing Cancer – Not People, author Robert G. Wright discusses one dietary supplement company's use of the species in one of its products.[16]
In culture
Engraved drawings of various species of Arum are seen in the Temple of Thutmose III in Karnak (Egypt), depicting the plants when they were brought from Canaan in the year 1447 BCE.[5] The plant is mentioned in the Mishnah, where its cultivation and use as food was described.[5][12]
'If arum is covered up with earth in the Seventh Year' (Sheviit 5:2). This arum that is being covered up with earth does not belong to the [prohibition of] Seventh Year produce, but is rather from last year's produce. Its manner is such that when it smells the smell of moisture it sprouts. Therefore, they would bury great quantities [of this plant] together and cover them up with dry earth, and the members of one's household would transfer its leaves to [a place] beneath a roof, so that they will not sprout in the Seventh Year. 'When arum has remained after the Seventh Year' (Sheviit 5:4). This arum is the kind that is called qalqās (Taro), being similar to [the leaves of] ar-rakaf (Cyclamen), but this is better than it, and its leaves are eaten immediately after sprouting, and it grows quickly, but its roots which are the [plant's] main fruit does not finish [its growth] and is suitable [for replanting] even after three years [from the time that it is uprooted and buried in dry soil].[18]
^Avi Shmida, MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel, Tel-Aviv 2005, p. 235 (s.v. Arum palaestinum) ISBN965-521-017-0 (Hebrew)
^ abcdefghiMayer-Chissick, Uri; Lev, Efraim (2014). "Wild Edible Plants in Israel Tradition Versus Cultivation". In Yaniv, Zohara; Dudai, Nati (eds.). Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East. Springer. pp. 18–20. ISBN9789401792752.
^Govaerts, Rafaël; Frodin, David G.; Bogner, Josef (2002). World checklist and bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae). Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens. pp. 230–237. ISBN1842460366.
^Ryan, Stephen (6 December 2003). "Plant Profile: Latin name -- Arum palaestinum". The Age. p. A2.
^Saad, Bashar; Said, Omar (2011). Greco-Arab and Islamic herbal medicine : traditional system, ethics, safety, efficacy, and regulatory issues. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. p. 331. ISBN978-0-470-47421-1.
^Nathan ben Abraham (1955), "Perush Shishah Sidrei Mishnah - A Commentary on the Six Orders of the Mishnah", in Sachs, Mordecai Yehudah Leib (ed.), The Six Orders of the Mishnah: with the Commentaries of the Rishonim (in Hebrew), vol. 1, Jerusalem: El ha-Meqorot, OCLC233403923
