Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum Schott)

Carpets of Jack-in-the-pulpit grace the forest floor in spring along the edges of southern swamps.

For some, Jack-in-the-pulpits are not preachers shaded in old-fashioned covered pulpits. They are emblems of spring's passions. Indeed, they moved Georgia O'Keeffe paint a cycle of Jack-in-the-pulpit paintings.

These native wildflowers flourish in rich, moist woodland soil from New Brunswich, Conn., south to Florida. They can reach 25 inches in height. All of the three distinct variants may be found at one site.

Jack's green tubular pulpit (spathe), with the preacher (spadix) inside, appears in April and the plants continue to flower until June. The preacher (spadix) is covered with tiny male or female flowers.

Using a scent most human noses cannot detect, Arisaema triphyllum attracts fungus gnats to handle pollination for it.

Believing they have found a mushroom, the gnats enter the pulpit. Slick walls prevent them from climbing out.

Male plants have an exit hole at the bottom, which opens after their pollen has been shed. That allows pollen-covered gnats to escape.

Females have no safety hatch. In effect, they are designed to trap any gnats who are coated with the male's pollen and so ensure completion of pollination.

Brilliant crimson berry clusters result from successful pollination.

Smaller, younger plants are usually male. They usually become female when they are older, larger and more capable of developing and supporting the dense clusters of crimson berries.

The entire plant is poisonous. Calcium oxalate crystals are found throughout it. It also contains aparagine, a poisonous protein. Use of gloves is recommended for handling the seeds.

Special preparation is required to safely taste why Jack-in-the-pulpit is variously called Indian turnip, meadow turnip, pepper turnip, memory root and swamp turnip.

As the name "turnip" correctly implies, however, American Indians made use of the roots, after proper drying and boiling to remove the calcium oxalate crystals, as food. The Sioux reportedly used them to poison enemies their enemies.

Jack-in-the-pulpit also has a history of medicinal use, with with little effect.

Scientific Classification

Superdivision: Spermatophyta (seed plants)
Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants)
Class: Liliopsida (Monocotyledons)
Subclass: Arecidae
Order: Arales
Family: Araceae Ð Arum
Genus: Arisaema Mart.
Species: Arisaema triphyllum (Linnaeus) Schott (Jack-in-the-pulpit)

References

The National Institute of Health Medline Encyclopedia Jack-in-the-pulpit entry.

Kemper Center for Home Gardening Arisaema triphyllum species account.

Propagation information from the Hiawatha National Forest Native Plant Program

In 1987, Georgia O'Keeffe bequeathed five out of six of her Jack-in-the-Pulpit cycle of paintings to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Each is more abstract than its predecessor. The National Gallery has versions online as follows:

US Department of Agriculture Plants Database main Arisaema triphyllum (L.) Schott page.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database entry on Arisaema triphyllum