Arum Lily
Zantedeschia aethiopica
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Arum Lily
Identify Arum Lily by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Pure white funnel-shaped spathe (calla/arum lily).
- Confirm leaf shape: Sagittate.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
- In India, compare location records such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Araceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Arum Lily.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Zantedeschia aethiopica
- Genus
- Zantedeschia
- Family
- Araceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Habitat
- Rarely found as an escape in moist situations
- Native to
- South Africa
- Distribution
- Naturalized in tropics
- Found in India
- Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (LC)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- SagittaterecordedArrowhead-shaped, with pointed backward-facing lobes at the base.“It grows to 0.6–1 m (2.0–3.3 ft) tall, with large clumps of broad, arrow shaped dark green leaves up to 45 cm (18 in) long.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Basal
Characters marked “recorded” are for Arum Lily itself; the rest are typical of the Araceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Inflorescence
- Spike
Typical of the Araceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Malayalam
- സാന്തെഡെഷിയ എത്യോപിക്ക
About Arum Lily
A member of the Araceae family, Arum Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) is a herb. In India it has been recorded in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Sikkim and 5 other states. It grows in rarely found as an escape in moist situations. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
Locally it is planted as an ornamental.
In culture
It is used as an official or regional emblem.
Araceae
Arum family
Arum Lily belongs to the Araceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Araceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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