Wild Calla, Water Arum, Calla palustris, Native Minnesota Wildflower plant, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

	Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
	Common Name	Scientific Name	Plant Family	Garden Location	Prime Season
	Wild Calla	Calla palustris L.	Arum	Woodland - Bog	Spring
Other names and notes	(Water Arum). The basal leaves are large and heart shaped with a pointed tip and with a 2 to 6 inch stalk. The inflorescence is a knob shaped 1 to 2 inch spadix covered with tiny yellow-greenish flowers that have six stamens and is partly surrounded by a white open oval spathe. The mature fruit is a cluster of berries, deep red at final maturity. Found in the bog as it is a plant of shallows and cold water. It grows from submerged rhizomes. The species name palustris means "of the marshes".


Above: The inflorescence of the Wild Calla rising on a long stalk along with basal leaves. Below: The spadex with it's greenish flowers surrounded by the white open spathe.	Above: Detail of the inflorescence and the mature red berries. Photo ©Robert R. Kowal, University of Wisconsin, Steven's Point.
	Below: Detail of the inflorescence as berries are forming.

Notes: Eloise Butler's records show that she obtained plants of this species from Mound, MN on Sept. 17, 1907 and on Sept. 13, 1908. It is native to the NE section of Minnesota and also to certain parts of Central Minnesota in bog areas. Eloise Butler wrote: "When floundering in the bogs, we come across the Wild Calla, a flower just as lovely, though smaller, as the well-known cultivated calla imported from Africa. This species has a creeping stem and heart-shaped, glossy leaves. It belongs to the Arum family, which includes, as you may remember, the skunk cabbage and Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Like them, too, the showy part of the inflorescence is a large bract or spathe enwrapping a dense cluster of small flowers." Published June 18, 1911 Sunday Minneapolis Tribune

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References: Plant characteristics are generally from sources 15, 16, 30, 31, 33, W2 & W3. Distribution principally from W2 and also 31, 34 and W1. Planting history generally from 1, 4 & 4a. Other sources by specific reference. See Reference List for details.

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