236 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 
Perhaps the most striking feature of the Cuckoo Pint is its curious 
flower. There is no true stem, and the leaves all spring from the base 
of the tuberous root, which is used as sago. The leaves are net- 
veined (which is unusual in monocotyledons), spear- or arrow-shaped, 
with long lobes behind, the surface glossy green, spotted with black 
patches (hence the second Latin name), stalked, with sheaths at the 
base, enclosing the spathe, triangular and channelled above. 
The inflorescence of this moncecious plant, with male and female 
Lorps AND Lapies (Arum maculatum, L.), with the spathes open, after pollination 
flowers, consists of a spadix, club-shaped, pink or purple, narrow below, 
borne on a smooth, rounded scape, and enclosed within a thin, white 
spathe, often yellowish-green, swollen below; and at the base are the 
oval ovaries. Below, the stamens and the stigmas are bearded with 
long hairs. No styles are found. The spathe falls off when ripe. 
The berries are scarlet. 
Cuckoo Pint is a foot high, and flowers about April and May. 
It is perennial, propagated by seeds. 
Cuckoo Pint is proterogynous, and the female flowers open first 
and lose the chance of being pollinated before the anthers on the same 
plant, which are above, are ripe. So that it is necessary for fresh 
