Zantedeschia Spreng.

HABIT : seasonally dormant, sometimes evergreen (Z. aethiopica) herbs, tuber depressed-globose, or with thick rhizome (Z. aethiopica). LEAVES : several, radical. PETIOLE : spongiose, sheath long. BLADE : lanceolate, narrowly elliptic, cordate, cordate-sagittate, sagittate, hastate, often variegated by aggregations of pale diaphanous necrotic patches; primary lateral veins pinnate, running into distinct marginal vein, secondary and tertiary laterals parallel-pinnate, higher order venation transverse-reticulate. INFLORESCENCE : solitary in each floral sympodium, appearing with leaves. PEDUNCLE : long, subequal or longer than petiole. SPATHE : unconstricted, persistent, pure white, cream, yellow, pink or rosy purple, lower part convolute forming a short, stout, subcylindric to obconic tube, often dark purple within at base, upper part widely gaping, shorter than or subequal to tube, suberect or recurved with somewhat revolute margins. SPADIX : erect, digitiform, shorter than spathe, sessile or stipitate, male and female zones contiguous, fertile to apex. FLOWERS : unisexual, perigone absent. MALE FLOWER : 2-3-androus, stamens free, anthers oblong, somewhat compressed, subsessile, connective truncate at apex, separating thecae, thecae opposite, oblong, dehiscing by apical pore. POLLEN : extruded in strands, inaperturate, ellipsoid to oblong, medium-sized (mean 40 µm., range 31-49 µm.), exine perfectly psilate to obscurely dimpled. FEMALE FLOWER : either a naked gynoecium or rarely (Z. aethiopica) surrounded by whorl of ca. 3 spathulate to clavate and apically truncate staminodes, ovary ovoid, 1-5-locular, ovules (1-)4(-8) per locule, anatropous, funicle short, placenta axile, style short- to long-attenuate, stigma rather small, discoid-subcapitate. BERRY : obovoid or depressed-globose, 1-several-seeded, usually green or orange, rarely yellow and mucilaginous within (Z. aethiopica). SEED : ovoid to ellipsoid, strophiolate, testa costate, embryo axile, elongate, endosperm copious.