Today’s #FunFactFriday (even though I flaked and it's technically past midnight and ergo Saturday now) about a fascinating woodland flower, Jack-in-the-Pulpit!
- The common name Jack-in-the-Pulpit comes from its very interesting shape. “Jack” is the central spadix, a spike of very tiny flowers. The “pulpit” is the pouch-shaped part called a spathe, a large sheathing bract that encloses the flower cluster and includes an overhanging hood.
- The spathe-and-spadix arrangement is typical of the Arum family. Historically, botanists listed three different species of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, though today some consider them all considered a single species, Arisaema triphyllum.
- Other common names for this plant include bog onion and wild turnip. These are in reference to the plant’s corm, or a portion of the plant stem that stores carbohydrates and nutrients, which is edible when properly prepared. Many indigenous American cultures used it for both food and medicine.
- Jack-in-the-Pulpit thrives in rich, moist woodland areas. It can be mistaken for poison ivy to the untrained eye because of its “leaves of three.” However, Jack-in-the-Pulpit leaves are larger and broader than poison ivy, and the center leaflet lacks a noticeable stem. Of course, if flowers are present, that’s the best clue!
- Most young plants produce male flowers; as plants mature, they produce more female flowers. This is why the plant is referred to as a sequential hermaphrodite.
- Fungus gnats are the primary pollinators, though it’s not exactly a mutually beneficial arrangement. Gnats are tricked (by smell) into thinking that the flowers are fungus. When they visit a male flower, they are temporarily trapped (and get dusted with pollen), but can escape via a hole in the spathe. Once they visit a female flower, however, they get trapped for good, and while they pollinate the female flowers in their attempts to escape, they inevitably die.
- Pollinated female flowers produce bright, red berries in late summer and early fall. These berries are favored by many birds.