I had moved into a new house in the country and in the early spring a fascinating plant emerged, it was an Arum palaestinum, common name is the Black Calla and is native to Israel, according to the Sunset Western Garden Book. It started out with arrowhead shaped leaves and then the black calla spathe emerged. It was absolutely beautiful. What is so interesting about this plant is that it has both male and female parts. The flowers are borne on a poker like shaped inflorescence called a spadix, which is partially enclosed in a spathe. The flowers are hidden and clustered at the base of the spadix with a ring of female flowers at the base and a ring of male flowers above them. Above the male flowers there are a ring of hairs which form an insect trap. When the insects are trapped beneath the hairs and are dusted with pollen by the male flowers, they carry the pollen to other parts of the plant where they pollinate the female flowers. Once the plant has been pollinated the small hairs wither, the insects are released and later red berries emerge, and the leaves dye back. The plant is grown from a rhizome and blooms in early spring. All parts of the plant are poisonous. I have thoroughly enjoyed this little gem and am so glad the owners of the house had planted this. What a joy!
