Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Indian Turnip.
Arisæma triphyllum. Arum Family.
Scape.—Terminated by a hood-like leaf or spathe. Leaves.—Generally two, each divided into three leaflets. Flowers.—Small and inconspicuous, packed about the lower part of the fleshy spike or spadix which is shielded by the spathe. Fruit.—A bright scarlet berry which is packed upon the spadix with many others.
These quaint little preachers, ensconced in their delicate pulpits, are well known to all who love the woods in early spring. Sometimes these “pulpits” are of a light green veined with a deeper tint; again they are stained with purple. This difference in color has been thought to indicate the sex of the flowers within—the males are said to be shielded by the green, the females by the purple, hoods. In the nearly allied cuckoo-pints of England, matters appear to be reversed: these plants are called “Lords and Ladies” by the children, the purple-tinged ones being the “Lords,” the light green ones the “Ladies.” The generic name, Arisæma, signifies bloody arum, and refers to the dark purple stains of the spathe. An old legend claims that these were received at the Crucifixion:
Beneath the cross it grew;
And in the vase-like hollow of the leaf,
Catching from that dread shower of agony
A few mysterious drops, transmitted thus
Unto the groves and hills their healing stains,
A heritage, for storm or vernal shower
Never to blow away.