I'm UBC's botany photo of the day!
Jan 18 ’07
For the record, I shot this image in western Australia, where the calla lily is highly invasive and is causing quite a bit of ecological upheaval in the tuart forests.
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On June 18th Adrian Verhoef said:
Dear Sirs,
At my home in the sitting room every day I have the pleasure looking at the calla lily.
with white and purper flowers.
My florist said: this lily is shin and eye irritant. Is that true.
I should like hearing from you.
Sincerely
DR Adrian Verhoef
Nieuwe Teertuinen 11-D
1013 LV Amsterdam
The Netherlands
On June 19th Brent Miller said:
It's true, calla lilies are an irritant.
Most members of the Arum family (Araceae) are skin and eye irritants, and should never be eaten. The family has a tendency to build up large amounts of calcium oxalate in its tissues, so much that it crystallizes. These minute crystals are called raphides. They tend to be quite pointy, so if you break up the plant tissue you get impaled with a bunch of tiny sharp things. They're small enough that you can't really see them, but they're sharp enough to irritate skin, cause damage to eyes, and cause lots of pain to your mouth if you try eating them.
Having said this, there is some evidence that the crystals aren't what cause the damage: it might be proteolytic enzymes and not raphides that cause the damage.