[5] These are followed by the flowers borne on a poker-shaped inflorescence called a spadix, which is partially enclosed in a pale green spathe or leaf-like hood.

In autumn, the lower ring of (female) flowers forms a cluster of bright red, berries up to 5 cm long[5] which remain after the spathe and other leaves have withered away.

Arum maculatum is also known as cuckoo pint or cuckoo-pint in the British Isles and is named thus in Nicholas Culpeper's famous 17th-century herbal.

The attractive berries are extremely poisonous to many animals, including humans, but harmless to birds, which eat them and propagate the seeds.

However, their acrid taste, coupled with the almost immediate tingling sensation in the mouth when consumed, means that large amounts are rarely taken and serious harm is unusual.

[12] It is one of the most common causes of accidental plant poisoning based on attendance at hospital emergency departments.

Airway management may reduce the mortality, and aggressive fluid administration may prevent renal injury.

It was used like salep (orchid flour) to make saloop, a drink popular before the introduction of tea or coffee.

[17] Arum maculatum is also used to make soup in the Andırın region of Turkey where the leaves are leavened with yogurt and boiled for long hours which eliminates toxicity.

[18] Arum maculatum is cultivated as an ornamental plant in traditional and woodland shade gardens.

The cluster of bright red berries standing alone without foliage can be a striking landscape accent.