Green Goddess

Zantedeschia aethiopica Green Goddess is the mane of this lovely lily. It has just come out over the past few days and well last a long time changing its colour to all green.

I was going to go into the city today as it is the start of Heritage Week and they had a number of things I wanted to do. My ears where so sore again this morning I thought I better not go out into the very cold wind we had. It did rain a little but as the day went on the sun showed its sunny face again.


The Zantedeschia aethiopica, Arum lilies top list of dangerous plants and make up about 10 per cent of all calls to the National Poisons Centre at Otago University in Dunedin. They can causes a burning sensation if eaten. The lilies have a range of toxins some are toxic to the gut, leading to vomiting and diarrhoea - or a sore mouth. They can be treated with Calcium such as milk.

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 important 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.
For more information on the Zantedeschia aethiopica, Green Goddess