The joy of growing it is revealed when the leaves are parted. Peering out of the greenery in late winter or spring you will see what looks like a little family of acrobatic mice standing on their heads.
Each mouse is actually a flower, or to be more precise, a covering called a spathe, which houses a flower within. The spathe tapers gradually, creating a tail, hence the common name, mouse plant.
From this tail comes a mushroom odour which attracts tiny flies called fungal gnats. They crawl inside a small opening on the underside of the spathe to pollinate it. The gnats then lay eggs, but are duped as there is no food to feed the larvae.
Preferring light shade, this plant likes plenty of water in spring, with free-draining soil. It can be easily propagated by dividing its tubers.
The slow-growing clumps look great under trees or in an elevated garden but watch out - they can establish too well. It has attractive glossy heart-shaped leaves reaching about 30cm high and can be grown just for its glossy foliage.
You can see good clumps of Arisarum proboscideum in the camellia collection in the lower botanic garden and the peat garden at the end of the Cherry Walk in the Rhododendron Dell.
• Natalie Carpenter is a third-year horticultural apprentice at Dunedin Botanic Garden.
