The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Is this a weed, or could it be? I see its mentioned on the Nature watch website but someone also has it for sale on Trade me. I was given a plant 10 years ago and now its spread quite a bit - needs to come out. Googling it comes up with different comments re its status in nz, i.e. rare orchid or weed-to-be. It's mentioned in a Forest and Bird Kapi Mana newsletter, 2012 as possibly rare but my bulb book mentions many other types of this species

I've had it in my garden in Hawkes Bay for 35 years and it was present before then. It does spread, but quite slowly and I find it easy enough to control by hand weeding. It has popped up in a couple of other sites from seed I think, but I've never seen it in the wild.

Arisarum vulgare is usually a long persistent cultivation relict in most of the palces where I have seen it - but in one situation that I know of locally (Point Chevalier, Auckland) it is a serious weed over much of a private property. The owners (friends of mine) moved there in 2010 and have so failed failed to eradicate it. So your call really - irrespective it most certainly is not a 'rare orchid' (it's not even an orchid). :-)

Mike and Peter, thanks very much for your comments. Will keep just a small area of it.