Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A spring wildflower of eastern North American forests, unmistakable for its striped, hooded spathe (the "pulpit") arching over a finger-like spadix (the "Jack"); it can change sex from year to year, producing male flowers when nutrient-poor and female when well-fed.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Genus: Arisaema
Species: Arisaema triphyllum