Zantedeschia History

The name Zantedeschia was first established in 1826 by Sprengel, but other commonly used names for this species such as Calla and Aroides have been used for at least 400 years. There are two import groups in this genus.

Zantedeschia aethiopica - the winter flowering varieties such as the common white arum, Green Goddess and Z. odorata. These are characterised by shiny green leaves that do not die down in winter. This group flowers right through winter to late spring and produces a rhizome.

Summer flowering Zantedeschia - these are made up of five original remaining species in which the leaves die completely down in winter and flower during the summer months. It is from these five species that the full range of new colour hybrids have been developed. The tuber or bulb from this group is quite distinctly different from the rhizome of the winter flowering Z. aethiopica.