''Arum palaestinum'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of flowering

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

in the family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

and the genus ''Arum'' (also known as black calla, Solomon's lily, priest's hood, noo'ah loof and kardi) It is native to the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

and other parts of the

Mediterranean Basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...

, and has been naturalized in North America, North Africa, Europe, Western Asia, and Australia The family Araceae includes other well-known plants such as ''Anthurium, Caladium'', and ''Philodendron''. ''Arum palaestinum'' is perhaps best known for it long history in the Middle East as food and for it use in traditional Middle Eastern medicine.

Description

It grows high. It blooms in the spring, 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 In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

. It is perennial plant. The leaves of ''A. palaestinum'' are light green, narrow, and upright with a purplish-black color. The root is tuberous. Like other members of the genus ''Arum'', this plant gives off a scent that attracts

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

, which distribute the

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

; while most other family members smell like dung and carrion, this plant can smell like rotting fruit as well. Its Latin name is derived from

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

, and it is native to the

and other parts of the

, and has been naturalized in North America, North Africa, Europe, Western Asia, and Australia.

Toxicity

''Arum palaestinum'' is toxic at low doses, and this has traditionally been considered to be due to

oxalate Oxalate (IUPAC: ethanedioate) is an anion with the formula C2O42−. This dianion is colorless. It occurs naturally, including in some foods. It forms a variety of salts, for example sodium oxalate (Na2C2O4), and several esters such as dimethyl o ...

salts, but this is not certain. The leaves of the plant contain

Calcium oxalate Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydrate ...

and other toxins that are removing by leaching. The symptoms caused by exposure to the raw plant include

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It is ...

irritation, and burning, and consuming larger doses causes nausea, diarrhea, and cramping. Because exposure to skin can cause irritation it is often handled lightly, or with gloves.

History

Engraved drawings of various species of ''Arum'' are seen in the Temple of

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

(Egypt), depicting the plants when they were brought from

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

in the year 1447 BCE. The plant is mentioned in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

, where its cultivation and use as food was described.

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...

' ''

Enquiry into Plants Theophrastus's ''Enquiry into Plants'' or ''Historia Plantarum'' ( grc-gre, Περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορία, ''Peri phyton historia'') was, along with his mentor Aristotle's ''History of Animals'', Pliny the Elder's '' Natural History'' an ...

'', described the necessity of leaching the roots and leaves before they can be eaten. The 11th-century

Mishnaic The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

exegete

Nathan ben Abraham Nathan ben Abraham, known also by the epithet ''President of the Academy'' () in the Land of Israel (died ca. 1045 – 1051), was an 11th-century rabbi and exegete of the Mishnah who lived in Ramla, in the Jund Filastin district of the Fatimid C ...

describes the cultivation of the plant in the

'If arum is covered up with earth in the Seventh Year' (''
Sheviit Shevi'it (, lit. "Seventh") is the fifth tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah, dealing with the laws of leaving the fields of the Land of Israel to lie fallow every seventh year; the laws concerning which produce may, ...
'' 5:2). This arum that is being covered up with earth does not belong to the rohibition ofSeventh 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
f this plant F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...
together and cover them up with dry earth, and the members of one's household would transfer its leaves to placebeneath a roof, so that they will not sprout in the Seventh Year. 'When arum has remained after the Seventh Year' (''
Sheviit Shevi'it (, lit. "Seventh") is the fifth tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah, dealing with the laws of leaving the fields of the Land of Israel to lie fallow every seventh year; the laws concerning which produce may, ...
'' 5:4). This arum is the kind that is called ''qalqās'' (
Taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...
), being similar to he leaves of''ar-rakaf'' (
Cyclamen ''Cyclamen'' ( or ) is a genus of 23 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. ''Cyclamen'' species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to the Caucasus and Iran, with one species in Somalia. They grow ...
), but this is better than it, and its leaves are eaten immediately after sprouting, and it grows quickly, but its roots which are the lant'smain fruit does not finish ts growthand is suitable or replantingeven after three years rom the time that it is uprooted and buried in dry soil

Uses

Food

In Middle Eastern cooking, the leaves are cut up and thoroughly cooked with lemon or

sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...

. It is also used in soups. It is commonly consumed with flat bread or bulgar, and is reported to have a taste similar to Swiss chard.

Traditional medicine

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

among Arabs in Palestine, ''Arum 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. Jews in Iraq have used it traditionally for worms, skin sores, syphilis, rheumatism, tuberculosis, and diarrhea. It has also been used for cough and constipation.

Ethnobotanical Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

data have shown that ''A. palaestinum'' was reported as one of the most commonly used plants in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, used by over half of all respondents. Recent Developments In a recent revision of his book, ''Killing Cancer – Not People'', author Robert G. Wright discusses one dietary supplement company’s use of ''Arum palaestinum'' in one of its products.Wright, Robert G., ''Killing Cancer – Not People'', 4th ed., American Anti-Cancer Institute, (2019), pp. 149-151.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2866021 palaestinum Plants described in 1854 Flora of Western Asia Flora of Israel Flora of Palestine (region) Flora of Lebanon and Syria Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier Middle Eastern cuisine