''Zantedeschia elliottiana'', golden arum or golden calla lily,yellow calla lily, is a herbaceous

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

in the family

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). A ...

. It grows from a bulb. It is said to occur in the province of Mpumalanga in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, although other sources say that it is not found in the wild but appears to be a hybrid of garden origin.

Description

''Zantedeschia elliottiana'' is a herbaceous plant up to tall, with large deep green leaves spotted with white. It is summer-flowering plant with a yellow

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

marked with purple at the base. The spathe surrounds a yellow spadix which occasionally produces a spike of bright yellow

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, rasp ...

that are attractive to birds.

Cultivation

It (or its cultivar(s)) is a recipient of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. It has been shown that, as with other members of the family Araceae, immersing ''Zantedeschia elliottiana'' bulbs in

gibberellic acid Gibberellic acid (also called gibberellin A3, GA, and GA3) is a hormone found in plants and fungi. Its chemical formula is C19H22O6. When purified, it is a white to pale-yellow solid. Plants in their normal state produce large amounts of GA3. It ...

(GA3) solution and planting them at the end of February increases the emergence rate and the number of emerging shoots.

References

elliottiana Flora of the Northern Provinces Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Araceae-stub