Zantedeschia aethiopica

Common name: Arum Lily

Meaning of name:

Zantedeschia honours Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773 – 1846), an Italian physician and botanist, and/or his son Francesco Zantedeschi (1797 – 1873) a professor of natural philosophy at Padua. Aethiopica is from the Latin word aethiopicus, meaning Ethiopian.

Distribution:

Occurs in the southwest of Western Australia. Also occurs in south eastern Australia.

Description:

An erect herb with large dark green leaves. The large white flower is produced from August to November.

Notes:

Arum Lily is a declared plant meaning that landholders are required by law to control this plant on their land. It is toxic to stock. It was introduced as a garden plant and the flowers are still used in the cut flower trade.

This species is originally from South Africa.

References:

Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings, a Glossary. FA Sharr. Third edition 2019.

Western Weeds, A Guide to the Weeds of Western Australia. BMJ Hussey, GJ Keighery, J Dodd, SG Lloyd, RD Cousens. 1997.

Flora of the Perth Region. NG Marchant, JR Wheeler, BL Rye, EM Bennett, NS Lander, TD Macfarlane. 1987.

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/6917219

Florabase https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1049