Calla Lilies And Flamingo Lilies

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Calla Lilies And Flamingo Lilies

By Thomas Keyes
Oct. 28, 2006

One of the most beautiful and fascinating families of tropical plants is Araceae, which, along with the family Lemnaceae, make up the order Arales, in the class Liliopsida, according to the older Cronquist classification. A new scheme, the APG classification, puts them in the order Alismatales. The plants in this family are monocots, and exhibit parallel leaf venation.

The most famous plants in the family Araceae are the ‘Calla lily’, with scientific name ‘Zantedeschia aethiopioca’, and the ‘flamingo lily’ or ‘flamingo flower’, with scientific name ‘Anthurium andraeanum’.

The noun ‘lily’ is a misnomer; these flowers are not really lilies. True lilies belong to the family Liliaceae in the order Liliales, and are only remotely related to Calla liles and flamingo lilies. The word ‘Calla’ is also a misnomer. This is the name of the genus in which Zantedeschia was once classified, and which now is used for other flowers. I personally like the name Zantedeschia, but a name like that is difficult for Americans and probably won’t catch on. For years, I thought the Calla lily was the true lily, and that the others were varieties. Only within the last five years have I discovered I didn’t know what I was talking about. Unfortunately, with the continual shifting around of the scientific names, one might as well stick to the common names, illogical though they may be.

Both Calla lilies and flamingo lilies are characterized by having miniscule flowers on a spike called a ‘spadix’, shich is surrounded by a gorgeous bract called a ‘spathe’. Here are pictures that demonstrate:

http://www.virtualgallery.be/yves/Divers/scaled/sc_macro_white_calla_lily.jpg

http://pandora.blog.simplesnet.pt/archive/anthurium.jpg

And here’s a picture of a pink Calla lily, with the spadix hidden within the spathe, which I have included only because I found it irresistible:

http://www.robertdaytonphotography.com/images/Pink%20Calla%20Lily.jpg

Calla lilies are originally from Africa, while flamingo lilies are from Central and South America, though both will grow in the United States, but, outdoors, only in Hawai’i, Florida and southern California. In northern US, they are grow in greenhouses or as house plants.

Another plant in the same family is 'Monstera deliciosa', which goes by the unfortunate common name ‘Swiss cheese plant’ among others, due to the holes in its leaves. I mention this plant only because the leaves typify leaves of plants in the whole family Araceae, being deeply indented or digitate, though most lack holes:

http://www.chungnam.rda.go.kr/lifeinfo/life_info/cyber/pic/Monstera%20deliciosa.jpg

In my bus rides through Central America in 2004, I saw many plants of the family Araceae from the bus window, but it would be hard to say exactly which ones. However, there’s no mistaking the leaves.

Below is a picture of a true lily, which makes it clear that we are talking about an entirely different flower.

http://www.seenobjects.org/images/mediumlarge/2005-11-16-white-lily.jpg

Note that the true lily has neither a spadix nor a spathe, and that its petals are almost separate. Lilies too are monocots, but they are more closely related to tulips and irises.

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About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far.

I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents.

Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com

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