Calla

Calla (kal'a), or calla lily, is a beautiful garden flower of the arum family, or Ara-ceae. It is related to the jack-in-the-pulpit and the skunk cabbage. What looks like the flower of the calla is actually a leaflike sheath called a spathe. The true flowers are extremely small and are inside the spathe. In the common calla the spathe is pure white. There are also yellow and pink varieties.

The calla grows from a bulb. This bulb has to be planted in rich well-watered soil. Often it is located in loam or soil mixed with manure. In most parts of North America it is grown indoors or in a greenhouse. In California and southern Texas it can be grown outdoors and is planted in parks in great flower beds.

The most ordinary tropical calla comes from the banks of the Nile River in Egypt it is called calla lily, Ethiopian lily, or common calla. The plant has a 10-inch (25-centimeter) white leaf. The calla lily causes a burning annoyance to the mouth and stomach if eaten.