Calla palustris (Wild calla)

Calla palustris L.

Wild calla, water arum, wild-calla

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Liliopsida	Monocots (plants with a single seed leaf); includes the lily family
Subclass	Alismatidae	Aquatic and marshy plants
Order	Alismatales	Herbaceous flowering plants found in marshy habitats
Family	Araceae	Arum family, with plants whose flower is enclosed in a spathe
Genus	Calla
Species	palustris	Growing in marshes

About plant names...

These North American native plants inhabit swamps, seasonally flooded bogs, stream banks, ditches, quagmires, and muddy lake shores.

Plants: 4-16" (10-40 cm) in size, partially submerged. They have a weak odor that is unpleasant to people, but that flies and beetles and even snails find appealing. Plants can form thick colonies.

Leaves: Leaves emerge on stalks up to 16" (40 cm), above a submersed rootstalk. Leaves are heart-shaped (ovate), waxy, smooth, and smooth-edged, with edges tending to curl inward. There is a single leaf, 1¾-4½" (5-12 cm) long, atop each stalk.

Flowers: A single white, waxy, heart-shaped “petal,” attached to the stalk at its base, appears to be the flower, but this is really a spathe, a specialized protective leaf. The actual flowerhead, called the spadix, is about 1" (2.5 cm) long and ½" (1.3 cm) around, also whitish, and covered with tiny white/green flowers that lack petals. The upper part of the flowerhead has unisexual staminate flowers, while the lower part is bisexual. The flower is supported on a stem 3-12" (7.6-30 cm) above the water line. They appear from June to July.

Fruits: Irregular, angled, but roughly pear-shaped berries up to ½" (1.3 cm) around, and bright red.

Edibility: Poisonous. Skull & Crossbones . All parts of the plant are toxic. Calcium oxalate is probably the single most toxic component. Nevertheless, in times of poverty, some peoples processed the plant in a way that reduced its toxicity, and mixed it with other foods.