Fig. 276. Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
At one time or another, perhaps all of us are given to the belief that all flowers blossom for our especial enjoyment. It is hard to think back for a thousand years and imagine hepaticas blooming on our New York hills; yet no doubt, they blossomed then in far greater numbers than they do to-day. Many of our native plants played their part in sustaining the lives of the native Americans, and that little preacher, Jack-in-the-pulpit, was a turnip long before he was a preacher. Indian turnip was his name in the days of our ancestors because the Indians boiled his bulb-like root and the ripe berries, thus making them a less peppery and a more palatable food.
The St. Nicholas Magazine was for so many years the organ through which Jack preached so many sermons to children all over our land that he is even to-day one of the best loved of the woodland flowers. Whittier, in his "Child Life," and Lucy Larcom have both celebrated Jack-in-the-pulpit in song, and these verses should be given to the children when they are studying the habits of this interesting plant.
Jack-in-the-pulpit is a wild cousin of the over-civilized calla lily. It is interesting to study the way the flowers resemble each other, and this you and the children will be able to study for yourselves. It will teach you that the showy parts of a blossom may be merely a protection, and an advertisement for the true flower hidden within.
Questions Concerning Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
1. Where do you find this plant, in dry or in wet locations?
2. What is the shape of the root? Is it pleasant to the taste?