Today I present the Corniculum marmoreum album, the "White marble horn".

This sculpture is admittedly a rather free interpretation of the swamp calla or dragon root (Calla palustris).

The dragon root is widespread in the temperate to subarctic areas of the northern hemisphere. They are found in Eurasia and North America. This type of plant is rare in Central Europe.

The dragon root thrives in forest swamps, moors, alder and birch forests and on the edge of raised moors, on flowing and still waters and on moist meadows, it often stands between peat moss (Sphagnum).

Due to the decline in wetlands, the plant is endangered in parts of Germany today, in the Alpine region it is severely endangered or regionally threatened with extinction.

According to the German Federal Nature Conservation Act, the species is specially protected.

The plants, which are called "calla" or misspelled "kalla" in the flower trade, usually belong to the genus Zantedeschia.

Although this plant also thrives in our gardens, it comes from South Africa.

In southern Europe, the genus Dracunculus occurs with the most common representative Common Dragon Arum, which also belongs to the Arum family.

The species has nothing to do with Caltha palustris, the marsh marigold. The similarity of the two names is purely coincidental, palustris means belonging to the swamp.

The botanical genus name Calla is derived from the Greek word κάλος kalós for beautiful, and I hope that my sculpture will do some justice to this name.

Mythological namesake cousins are the nymph Callisto and the muse of poetry and science Calliope.

The other German-language trivial names exist or existed for the dragon root, in some cases only regionally:

Dragon's tail, frog spoon (Silesia), paper flower (Switzerland), small snake herb, snake root, pig's weed (East Prussia), pig clock (in the sense of pig's ear, Frankfurt an der Oder), Teschk (Pomerania), water dragon root, red water snake, water snake root and water snake herb.

As with many other representatives of the arum family, all parts of the marsh calla are poisonous. However, the reasons for this are not clear.

Toxic effects are ascribed to both the oxalic acid salts and to the aroin present in the plant.

Corniculum marmoreum album, on the other hand, is completely non-toxic, even if it is somewhat difficult to digest.

In any case, it is an adornment for the home or garden and will enchant you with unusual shadow effects.