Look what I found: Arisaema triphyllum

Also known as Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I was so excited to find an arisaema triphyllum, or Jack-in-the-Pulpit, along the woodland path.  It's a native plant, but it looks really exotic...almost tropical.  Starting next month or so, the spadix (which is the little pokey thing the ant is crawling on in the photo above) will start growing a cluster of fruits which should turn bright red in the fall.

Although arisaemas are supposed to naturalize, I found a lot of people posting online that they only have one or two specimens that come back every year.  One of my plant propagation books, (Making More Plants, by Ken Druse), had detailed instructions for harvesting and cleaning the fruits and growing arisaema from seed.  Future project?  Probably.


In this photo, you can see a smaller plant in the bottom right

I only found two in the woods, but I hope to make a little patch out of them.