Scientific Name
Calla palustris L.
Common Name(s)
Bog Arum, Water Arum, Marsh Calla, Wild Calla, Squaw Claw
Synonym(s)
Calla palustris f. palustris, Calla brevis, Calla cordifolia, Calla generalis, Calla ovatifolia, Callaion bispatha, Callaion brevis, Callaion heterophylla, Callaion palustris, Dracunculus paludosus, Provenzalia bispatha, Provenzalia brevis, Provenzalia heterophyla, Provenzalia palustris
Scientific Classification
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Calloideae
Tribe: Spathiphylleae
Genus: Calla
Flower
Color: White
Bloom Time: Summer
Description
Calla palustris is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant growing in bogs and ponds. Leaves are rounded to heart-shaped, up to 5 inches (12.5 cm) long and wide, on an up to 8 inches (20 cm) long petiole.
The greenish-yellow inflorescence is produced on an up to 2.4 inches (6 cm) long spadix enclosed in a white spathe. Fruits are clusters of red berries, each berry containing several seeds.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zone 4a to 7b: from −30 °F (−34.4 °C) to 10 °F (−12.2 °C).
How to Grow and Care
Water Arum is found in bogs and marshes as it is a plant of shallows, cold water, and wet soils. It can tolerate up to 2 inches (5 cm) of standing water and grows best in full sun. It grows from submerged creeping rhizomes that are horizontal near the surface of the soil. In summer, the growing shoots can be cut off to encourage branching and pushed into the soil to propagate. These perennials also frequently vegetatively reproduce by producing offsets through their rhizomes.
It can be grown in wet soil and marshy, muddy conditions with still, shallow freshwater. Plants tolerate close to full shade but may become weak-stemmed and lean. In established ponds with a good layer of sediment at the bottom can be left to free float.
A light mulch is necessary for extremely cold, snowless winters. Water Arum will not survive a dry spell.
See more at How to Grow and Care for Water Arum (Calla palustris).
Origin
Calla palustris is native to cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, in central, eastern, and northern Europe (France and Norway eastward), northern Asia, and northern North America (Alaska, Canada, and northeastern contiguous United States).
Links
- Back to genus Calla
- Plantpedia: Browse flowering plants by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, or Origin
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