Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)

Jack-in-the-pulpit is a delightful late spring flowering plant that is beginning to emerge locally. Its many tiny flowers are borne on a stubby inflorescence called a spadix and are surrounded by a modified leaf called a spathe.  "Jack" is the spadix, and the "pulpit" is the spathe. Individual plants produce either male or female flowers in any given year, but the sex switches depending on resource availability.  Younger plants with fewer energy reserves tend to produce male flowers (sperm is cheap!), but after several years they will produce female flowers (eggs and fruit are expensive).  Usually a plant that has recently fruited (i.e., was female) will revert to maleness again for a few years while recovering from the energy-intensive project of making seeds. Look out for the fruits later in the season--the bright red berries are quite beautiful...if the deer don't get to the plants first.  Unfortunately, this is one of their favorite snacks.  Save a plant--go deer hunting this fall!