Zantedeschia aethiopica; White
Arum Lily, Pig Lily; Varklelie, Witvarkoor (Afrikaans); intebe (Xhosa); intebe,
ihlukwe (Zulu); mhalalitoe, mothebe (South Sotho); umfana-kamacejane(Siswati)
Article by Geoff Nichols
Worldwide this plant
is one of our greatest flower exports.
One country I feel very sorry for is Australia. They have really had a
raw deal with our plants. They have about 350 of our plants in Australia
that have escaped into the wild. Humans will insist on carrying plants with
them and this species plus a whole bunch of mainly winter rainfall bulbs
have begun to devastate large areas of Western Australia plus the other summer
rainfall regions of Australia. I was quite shocked when I saw how many of
their wetlands were completely invaded by this wonderful lily. They really
have a serious invasive plant problem there, as in fact we do with some of
their Acacia species. But we at least can remove a tree and it does not regrow
but as seeds in the soil germinate we can remove the seedlings. For the Australians
“our” bulbous plants are underground producing suckers and seeds that are
generally small and difficult to remove from the soil without damaging their
own small herbaceous plants. So I suspect for once we have the best of the
bad deal!!
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Anyway back
to this handsome plant with its very distinctive flower. The flower is made
up of a long finger-like piece called the spadix that is half surrounded by
a cone shaped fleshy leaf-like structure known as the spathe. The spathe in
this case is a lovely creamy white but there are other species with different
colours. There is a variety of Z. aethiopica called “Green Goddess” which
has a green colouration towards the end of the spathe. This variety is now
becoming popular in gardening circles. The flowers are produced on the spadix
with the small male flowers at the end and the female flowers near the base.
Arum lilies like to live in wetlands as can be seen when you encounter these
plants in the wild. They occur naturally from the southern most tip of Africa
up through the Cape to KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and inland up into the Free
State and parts of Gauteng where the conditions are suitable. These wetland
soils are rich in humus and nutrients that result in better summer growth.
The winter rainfall plants just change their dormancy time from winter to
summer to suite their growing climate. I would suggest to gardeners that they
source plants that are suited to their local climate don’t bring summer rainfall
plants to the Mediterranean climate of the Cape.
These are ideal plants at the edge of a pond or under a tap or near a soak
pit where water is always available. The large fleshy leaved plants can reach
just over a metre tall if grown under optimum conditions. This is a plant
that has a wide amplitude of survivability given adequate water and nutrients
during its growing period. They love to grow in full sun with wet feet. But
will tolerate shade if they are allowed to rest in the dormant season depending
on where you live in the country. I often place them against a south facing
cool shady wall of a house to grow where not much else will do in the perpetual
shade. Once the female flowers are pollinated the fleshy fruits with the seeds
within develop and take on the look of a misshapen miniature pineapple. Once
the fruits are ripe the flesh turns yellow. It is now time to remove the
seeds from the flesh and sow in seedling trays of sand and compost. The seeds
germinate in about 4-6 weeks depending on the climate. Young plants develop
quite rapidly and will produce their first flowers in about 3 years from
seed.
These flowers are great as cut flowers and the plants themselves make a
good show with their very shapely leaves.
Bushpig and Porcupine eat the bulbs, with humans using the leaves and bulbs
in traditional medicine. Birds and mammals eat the fruits. Silver-striped
Hawk Moth larvae feeding on leaves. In the western Cape the Arum Lily Frog
but here with us it is usually the Painted Redd Frog that favours resting
up during the day in the narrow end of the “cone” that is formed by the spathe
surrounding the spadix.
