A weed or not a weed?

Hello there - I'm new to the forum and have been puzzling over a plant in my flower bed - the bed was only created last year and I planted it up - however, this I did not plant (as least, I don't recall doing so!!)

I left it initially because I have a vague recollection of moving a poppy? BUT is this a poppy of some kind?

ALSO - This is growing under a tree (little silver birch) and at first i thought it was a hosta of some kind - today i noticed this 'flower' which looks a bit like a calla lily! I wondered if anyone knew what this is?!

Many thanks!

 

Blue-ish/Silvery leaved one in left picture looks like a poppy

 

The bluish one looks like a poppy to me. The other one I think is cuckoo pint, or lords and ladies or one of its other names. Latin name arum maculatum. It is a wild flower, but pretty, and has vivid orange 'berries' which are extremely poisonous. Can also cause allergic reactions in some people.

 

Lorna is the winner

Spruce

 

Neither are weeds:

1) The seeds can be used in baking bread & rolls - that's why I grow these. Dried pods/stems can also be used for flower arranging.

2) The tops are poisonous, but the roots can be eaten if treated correctly Arum maculatum / Cuckoopint or Lords-and-Ladies as a foodstuff I find them an attractive spring plant in shady/wild areas.

are you reading this Ziggy?

 

Ooo thank you very much!

Yay regarding the Poppy - and am now in smug mode as I had suspected that... the leaves are really, well almost like cabbage leaves in texture! I will try to remember to photograph it in flower...... I recollect a light pink, very full, almost peony like flower - it was growing in blueberry patch and I recall digging it up and maybe moving it - but my memory......well I just forget!


Not sure what to do about the other one "cuckoo pint" "lords & ladies" I do wonder where the name originates from? Anyway.....so I have a 5 year old daughter - who is constantly being warned that we never ever eat without washing hands if we pick anything and under no circumstances to ever eat anything picked!! BUT if it is that toxic, should I remove it? It's between the little silver birch and a small pear tree.... I would point it out to my daughter and emphasis the danger, as it's shaded and pretty much out of site, hopefully it will go undisturbed..... is it dangerous to other animals? pet cats, or hedgehogs, birds and other garden visiting wildlife?

 

:D Of course Root is full of starch, Elizabethans used it to stiffen their ruffs (Oo err Mrs)

I was told the berries were poisonous at about 2/3 years old & that was good enough warning for me.

Mind you, I was also told about the red mushroom with the white spots & we all know what happened there:DOH:

 

I took my daughter out to show her this, explained the dangers and that I didn't want her to even touch the leaves. She admitted that she really wanted to touch the flower 'stamen' bit - she said it looked like a lovely lily - but that now she would definitely not touch or eat :-) I trust her and we constantly discuss the dangers of eating berries etc. I just say they are for birds and not safe for us to eat - plus it wouldn't be fair to the birds to take their food!

Many thanks again! I've lots of other questions brewing..... :o

 

I don't think the second is a native wild cuckoo pint, Cuckoo pint has a purple stamen thingy and its leaves are not heavily variated like the one in the picture and are not so arrow shaped. I think this is Italian lords and ladies Arum italicum subspecies italicum. Introduced intp southern britian by gardeners.
Mrs Chopper

 

Onopordum acanthium (Scotch Thistle) and Arum italicum (Italian Arum)

 

Hey Mrs Chopper,

Good point, with the veining on the leaves What have the Romans ever done for us ?

 

Ground elder? :(