Diario de dross3

For this exercise I happened to walk within the vicinity of the area that I live in and discover some very interesting characters. What intrigued me was the diversity of the plants in the area and whether or not they were alive and thriving or near death. A large majority of the plants I observed had the majority of their petals still intact, although they were some that were completely naked and a few that were missing about two to three petals. When observing the Calla Lilly I noticed that the spathe of each flower was intact as opposed to the Genus Brugmansia, which seemed to be wilting away. There was also one plant I observed that seemed to have leaves missing at the very end while the rest of the plant had leaves jotting out from both sides in opposite directions. For the most part, I wanted to focus on the vibrant colors and different shapes of each plant, which is why I chose a variety of flowers and other plants that appeared bulbous or abnormal.

The Genus Zantadeschia plant, also known as the Calla Lilly, is native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi and its name was given as a tribute to Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi by German botanist Kurt Sprengel. These beautiful flowers have been widely used in paintings, notably by artists Diego Rivera and Georgia O'Keeffe. The flower is also a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant that grows to 1-2.5 m tall with leaves that are usually 15-45 cm long. Surprisingly, these flowers are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. All parts of the flower and poisonous and coming in contact may result in local irritation or a burning sensation around the mouth and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Ironically enough, the leaves are sometimes cooked and eaten. The flower can grow continuously when watered and fed regularly and is able to survive periods of minor frost. The flower is notably recognized for its inflorescence and white or brightly colored spathes.