Araceae FAMILY Least Concern

Calla palustris

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The plant contains calcium oxylate crystals[ 222 Title A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Publication Author Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. Publisher Houghton Mifflin Co. Year 1990 ISBN 0395467225 Description A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties. ]. These cause an extremely unpleasant sensation similar to needles being stuck into the mouth and tongue if they are eaten, but they are easily neutralized by thoroughly drying or cooking the plant or by steeping it in water[ 65 Title A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Publication Author Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. Publisher Wolfe Year 1984 ISBN 0723408394 Description Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far. ].

Botanical Description

Calla palustris is a herbaceous perennial plant growing from a flattish, green rhizome. Heart-shaped leaves up to 10cm wide, on stems up to 20cm long, are produced at intervals along the rhizome; the plant grows up to 25cm tall[ 472 Title Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family. Publication Author Bown D. Publisher Timber Press; Portland, Oregon. Year 2000 ISBN 0-88192-485-7 Description An excellent treatment of the family Araceae, giving lots of information about the plants, how to grow them, their uses etc. I found it a bit disordered - if you want all the information on a specific species you have to trawl through the whole book. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It is often grown as an ornamental in gardens. This species is widespread and abundant throughout its known range and populations are generally stable, though there is evidence of a decline in Switzerland, Croatia and France.The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurasia - Norway to France, east to the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, China, Turkey; N. America - Alaska to Newfoundland, south to West Virginia

HabitatForest swamps, moorland marshes, by ponds and streams[ 10 Title Poisonous Plants and Animals. Publication Author Altmann. H. Publisher Chatto and Windus Year 1980 ISBN 0-7011-2526-8 Description A small book, reasonable but not very detailed. ]. Found in a wide variety of water bodies, including ponds, lakes and marshes; usually on peat and often associated with woodland[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].