White Arum Lily, Common Aurum Lily, Calla Lily Zantedeschia aethiopica (Varkblom)
Order: Alismatales. Family: Araceae. Subfamily: Aroideae. Tribe: Zantedeschieae
© Toko
Western Cape, Cape Peninsula
Description
It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant. It grows to 0.6–1 m tall, with large clumps of broad, arrow shaped dark green leaves up to 45 cm long. The Inflorescences are large, produced in spring, summer and autumn, with a pure white spathe up to 25 cm and a yellow spadix up to 90 mm long. It is evergreen or deciduous depending on the habitat and rainfall regime. In the Western Cape it is dormant in summer and in the summer rainfall areas it is dormant in winter. It will remain evergreen in both areas if growing in marshy conditions which remain wet all year around.
Distribution
Endemic to Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa (Limpopo, possibly North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape).
Habitat
It grows in damp or marshy places from 20 to 2250 metres above sea level. It occurs in fynbos. grassland. bushveld and along forest margins.
Links:
Braam Van Wyk: A Photographic Guide to Wild Flowers of South Africa;
John C. Manning: Field Guide to Fynbos
© Tina
Kirstenbosch