The arum lily’s native origins

LILI SINGER’s “Callas to Have and to Hold” [March 17] compelled me to begin a stand of white callas. But her assertion that South African varieties do best in Southern California may mislead readers into believing that the U.S. has no arum lilies of its own. Many Angelenos from colder climes can recall the joy of seeing native arums poking purple spathes through the slush as harbingers of spring. The bright leaves that follow, are among the year’s earliest beauties.

The name Chicago is said to be derived from a Native American name for the plant, and naturalists have studied the heat-generating mechanism that allows a member of an otherwise semitropical family to thrive in Windy City parks. A pity, then, that our glorious arums have been afflicted with the pungent name “skunk cabbage.”

Al Roberts

Los Angeles