Home › Contents › Wild Calla. Water Arum

Wild Calla. Water Arum

Calla palustris. Arum Family.

Leaves.--Long-stemmed; heart-shaped. Apparent Flower.--Large; white. Actual Flowers.--Small; greenish; packed about the oblong spadix. Although only eight or ten inches high, this plant is peculiarly striking as it rises from the rich soil of the swamp, or from the shallow borders of the stream. The broad smooth leaves at once remind one of its relationship to the so-called "calla-lily" of the greenhouses, a native of the Cape of Good Hope; and the likeness is still more apparent in the white, petal-like (although flat and open) spathe which tops the scape; so that even one knowing nothing of botanical families would naturally christen the plant "wild calla." The first sight of these white spathes gleaming across a wet meadow in June, and the closer inspection of the upright, vigorous little plants, make an event in the summer. None of our aquatics is more curious and interesting, more sturdy, yet dainty and pure, than the wild calla.