Arisarum vulgare - Friar's cowl

Friar’s cowl (Arisarum vulgare) is a shade-tolerant perennial herb of Mediterranean Europe. Its tuber-like root, about the size of a walnut, was used as an emergency food in times of scarcity once thoroughly washed and cooked — raw, it contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause intense burning in the mouth.¹

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹
• Hardiness zone 9¹
• Semi-shade¹
• Full shade¹
• Moist soil¹

Outputs

• Emergency food¹

Type

• Herb
• Perennial

Functions

• Ground cover¹
• Pollination¹

Footnotes

1. Arisarum vulgare | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹