Summer Featured Plants
An
Arisaema tortuosum spathe
amidst its leaves |
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genus Arisaema
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
There is no doubt about it — Jack-in-the Pulpits,
or Arisaema, are weird plants. If you grew up in medieval England,
you would understand how well the name describes the flower because
you would have seen the 'pulpit' - a semicircular arch which frames
the reverend as he or she gives his sermon, in your local church.
Thus, the Arisaema pulpit is a smooth, green or purplish bract (a
modified leaf called a spathe) which encircles 'Jack,' the upright
flower stalk (sometimes called a spadix) which is usually dark green
or brown.
Here, in the Mt. Holyoke's
Virginia "Tim" Craig Rhododendron Garden, there are 10
species of Arisaema which have a bloom time range from early May
to late August. Once you get past (or maybe into!) their weirdness,
you start to appreciate the Jacks' handsome qualities: the striped
pink to purple hood, sometimes nearly black underneath, the different
shapes of the caps, including a twelve-inch long extension like
an out-of-control forelock that flips up.
Arisaema
ringens
Arisaemas are interesting
too because of strange sexual practices they exhibit while creating
their spadices (their flowers). They change their sex from male
to female when they get strong enough to bear their young, and back
to male again if they have been successful in creating a lot of
seed.
A cluster of
Arisaema candissimum
Come to Mt. Holyoke College
to see the incredible differences in the species found here: the
long snouts of the Arisaema heterophylla , the 4- foot-tall snake-like
stems of A. tortuosum, the huge leaves and hidden flowers of the
A. ringens and the beautiful pink spathes of A. candissimum. You'll
be amazed and delighted, we guarantee!
Jack-in-the-pulpit
(Arisaema candissimum)
It probably is their strangeness that makes
the Arisaema so fascinating. Arisaema is a member of the Araceae
family, which features some very well known houseplants like the
philodendrums and the "peace plant" or Spathiphyllum,
all of which have the spadix or spathe and spadix. There are 170
or more species of Arisaema worldwide. The range of Arisaema is
phenomenal. They mostly grow in the tropical or warm temperate areas.
However the range also includes one very unusual alpine variety
and two that are natives to the Eastern United States.
The large
leaves of Arisaema fargesii
They are also interesting
in virtually all aspects of their growth. From the startling emergence
of a single, usually mottled leaf shaft from the ground -- looking
like the weird creature who emerged from Sigourney Weaver's stomach
in the film, "Alien" -- to the cluster of bright orange
to red berries they produce as seeds.
An emerging flower
scape of an Arisaema
Growing Jacks are easy
if you have a woodland area. Their 6-10 inch tubers need moist,
well-drained soil, which is neutral in pH or heading towards acidic,
and of course, shade. A. candissium, consanguinium, flavum and jaquemontii
can tolerate more sun than many of the other species. They all appreciate
a mulching in the winter.
Arisaema
tortuosum
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