Jack is back!

Jack-in-the-pulpit is one of favorite woodland wildflowers. It even graces the back cover of my new book. The are shade-loving native woodland plans. We have hundreds of them that pop up in our wooded property every year. I have captured them in every phase: spring shoots, summer umbrellas, autumn seedheads, and winter stems. This is the first one to capture my attention this spring (I’ve been a little busy.Lol.)

jack-in-the-pulpit shoot in early spring (Arisaema triphyllum)

**For the nerds: The small, inconspicuous flowers of Jack-in-the-pulpit are borne on a fleshy, spike-like inflorescence called a spadix (“Jack“), which is enclosed (or nearly enclosed) by a large, sometimes colorful bract called a spathe (“pulpit“). The flowers are clustered around the base of the spadix inside the spathe. A sterile spadix appendix protrudes from the mouth of the spathe tube. The appendix is covered by the leafy tip of the spathe, referred to as the spathe hood (or spathe lamina). The lip along the mouth of the spathe tube, used as a landing platform for winged insects, is called the spathe flange.