“triphyllum” is the defining feature of this member of the Arum family, as all you initially see is the tripartite leaves, of which there are only two. Last year one plant emerged with just a single leaf and I did not bother trying to identify what I was dealing with. Now I have three plants in different areas of the woodland garden, and they are all about a foot high, and this time they have the flower which characterizes this species. Arisaema triphyllum likes damp and rich woodland. How far my garden has come from the days when only commercial plantings and dry soil were in evidence. The jack-in-the-pulpits just appeared one day, finding a habitat they could thrive in. The other defining element is the hooded “pulpit”, which is a death trap for insects. The plant does not feed on the nutrients of these insects like a venus fly trap does. They just don’t seem to care either way if an insect makes it out or not. The bugs are unable to make it up the slippery slopes.
The sex life of the plants is also somewhat unusual. Initially the flowers of these plants are only male, but the plant adds female flowers as it matures. What is interesting is that the male flowers die off before the female flowers appear, so they do not self-pollinate – other jacks are required to take care of the needs of jill… The jack-in-the-pulpits will disappear by the height of summer. If all goes well I should find red berries. The plant is highly toxic as it contains calcium oxalate. This is a plant to admire from afar…
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