Thanks Jean. I have an Arum 'Winter White' nearby. It must have self-sown. Is Arum italicum invasive and hard to remove? If so, I have to move the two Arum cultivars somewhere else to be safe.

I'm not sure if you know, from the wording of your reply, that Arum Winter White is a cultivar of Arum Italicum? It will spread as much as the species, I imagine.

Thanks floral. Since my last reply, I have done some research on the internet, this forum and many of my perennials reference books in my collection and come to the following notes for myself:

- It an be 'invasive in some areas in North American (likely not my area).

- It will spread potentially quite fast. (so far the two cultivars I have 'Winter white' and Gold Rush' show signs of starting to spread in their third year).

-Practically all the perennial experts in my reference books spoke highly of the ornamental values of these cultivars, and none suggest any invasive problems other than it can spread fast under conditions the like.

As much as I hate invasive plants (there are a few that I can't un-invite in my garden), I think I will keep these two cultivars in an area where It is not too difficult to remove if necessary, and have to remember to prevent self-sowing.

Also, there is a chance that the weed I showed above is not Arum Italicum based on the comparison of the foliage shapes.

I agree that the leaf shape is a bit of a puzzle. Maybe it's just a question of keeping a close eye on it and waiting.

First leaves often vary slightly from the true leaves.

Also, if it is a hybrid of some sort, the seedling leaf may be different than the parent.

If you decide to to get rid of it, I'd suggest sooner rather than later. Even though it may not be invasive in your region, digging up an arum isn't necessarily easy as in "I'll just dig it up" because the fleshy root can go very deep. That plus the fact that every remaining fragment will grow again.

floral, Jean,

I normally do not count on uninvited garden plants to be garden worthy in this area. The reason I hesitated so long was my wishful thinking that my treasured Arisaema candidissimum planted there and stopped coming back two years ago could be coming back. I think I will remove it.

Well, if it's Arisaema candidissimum, it doesn't match this:

http://www.paghat.com/pulpit_candidis.html

Yeah, I had been googling for 'Arisaema seedling foliage' before I gave up hope and started this thread.

When referring to plants, "invasive" doen't refer to how much it spreads in the garden.

"Invasive" refers to spread at a distance. Hereabouts, Arum italicum hasn't yet been declared invasive but it is turning up in woodland areas, and more, at a distance from any garden.

A plant is said to be "aggressive" when it spreads with gay abandon in the garden, whether that's by physical enlargement of the clump/cluster or via seeds/seedlings.