Author: Stella Marie Schultz

Permanent E-mail Address: stelstar76@aol.com

Class E-mail Address: 350schultz@dial.pick.uga.edu

Common names: Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Indian Turnip

Higher Taxa:

The common Jack-in-the-Pulpit is1-3 feet tall, and, according to the Time Life Plant Encyclopedia, usually has "2 long-stemmed, 3-parted leaves that are 4-6 inches long". Its reproductive structure has a spathe and a spadix. "The Genus Arisaema" says that "the spathe is a convolute tube that surrounds and curves above the spadix". The tube of the spathe is "corrugated with white ridges"(Peterson and McKenny, 1968). Unlike the Green Dragon, the spadix is short, about 3 inches long, and is held within the spathe. This "hooded canopy of green" (Time Life) can sometimes be striped with red, purple, brown, or white. The flowers cluster around the base of the spadix in the late summer or fall. Small berries, up to a half-inch in diameter, also ripen in a packed cluster. These "lustrous berries change from green to orange to scarlet" (Gupton, 1987). The stem of the plant is underground. Linnaeus originally described the species. Peterson and McKenny's A Field Guide to Wildflowers includes Jack-in-the-Pulpit within an identification key.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit "grows wild in the East from New Brunswick and Quebec to South Carolina, and in the Midwest from Manitoba to Missouri and Kansas" (Time Life).

Jack-in-the-Pulpit is a perennial wildflower that "grows in a deciduous woodland environment" according to Time Life. It does best in moist, acidic soil that is rich in humus with a "pH of 5.0-6.5" (Time Life)and partial shade. "Jack's Back" says that its normal habitat in the wild is "wet woods and edges of swamps although it is occasionally found on hillsides". It blooms from May to June. Interestingly, Jack-in-the-Pulpit is extremely poisonous. The plant's needle-like calcium oxalate crystals "will cause severe burns to the mouth and stomach lining if eaten", according to "The Genus Arisaema". Turner and Szczawinski suggest that salivation, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. They further say that "very rarely, irregular heartbeat, dilation of the pupils, fits, coma, and potentially, death"(Turner and Szczawinski, 1991) may result from ingestion. The leaves and roots can cause skin irritation on contact. However, these plants were used as a source of flour by Native peoples and early pioneers. They were "thoroughly dried and pulverized to break up the calcium oxalate crystals" (Turner and Szczawinski,1991) since boiling does not dispel them.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit is easily distinguishable in the wild. The best way to recognize it is by its folded spathe that covers the short spadix. The best time of year to discover them is during their blooming season, from May to June. It would be best found in a wooded area where there is plenty of moist soil.

Benson, Lyman. Plant Classification, Second Edition. D.C. Heath and Company: Toronto; 1979.

Browne, Edward T. Jr. and Raymond Athey. Vascular Plants of Kentucky. The University Press of Kentucky: Lexington; 1992.

Chapman A.W.. Flora of the Southern United States, Third Edition. American Book Company: New York; 1897.

Coile, Nancy C. and Samuel B. Jones, Jr.. The Georgia Plant List. The University of Georgia: Athens; 1985.

Dana, Mrs. William Starr. How to Know the Wild Flowers. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York; 1900.

Fleming, Cristol, Marion Blois Lobstein, and Barbara Tufty. Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore; 1995.

Gupton, Oscar W. and Fred C. Swope. Fall Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. University Press of Virginia: Charlottesville; 1987.

Hunter, Carl G.. Wildflowers of Arkansas. The Ozark Society Foundation: Little Rock; 1984.

Peterson, Roger Tory and Margaret McKenny. A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and NorthcentralNorth America. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston; 1968.

Porter, C.L.. Taxonomy of Flowering Plants. W.H. Freeman and Company: San Francisco; 1967.

Turner, Nancy J., Ph.D. and Adam F. Szczawinski, Ph.D.. Common Poisonous Plants and Mushroomsof North America. Timber Press: Portland; 1991.

Wofford, B. Eugene and Robert Kral. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Tennessee. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Inc.: 1993.

"The Genus Arisaema". http://wcn.simplenet.com/faq/arisaema.htm

"Arisaema". Time Life Plant Encyclopedia. http://www.pathfinder.com/vg/TimeLife/CG/BOOKS/E08/Html/E08008X.html

"Le Jardin Ombrage". http://www.freenet.tlh.fl.us/~skinnerd/Arisadra.htm

"Paul Christian Arisaema Photo Gallery". http://rareplants.co.uk/gallaris.htm

Back to Arisaema