Sculptural and startlingly exotic, the Calla lily (also known as Arum lily) is both an intriguing and mesmerizing plant, with its funnel-shaped flower and glossy green foliage.
Calla lily’s elegant flowers are not really lilies at all; they belong to the Araceae family with a fleshy spike (or spadix) and dramatic flower which is in fact a bract (a modified leaf).
Photograph by ClatieK via Flickr.
Native to Africa, the flower was incorrectly named as a lily by Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, and the name has stuck.
The Calla lily became an object of fascination for photographers and artists in the early 20th century, most notably by Georgia O’Keeffe whose 1927 White Calla Lily painting sold for a record-breaking $9m in 2015.
Calla lilies can be propagated by division in spring, by lifting and cutting through the rhizome and then replanting the sections at least 4 inches deep. Finally, get more ideas on how to successfully plant, grow, and care for calla lily with our Calla Lily: A Field Guide.