Wednesday, April 11, 2012

J is for...


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   To days flower has a name I love "Jack in the Pulpit" Arisaema triphyllum. This really likes wet feet and is found in the deep forests and bogs of east Texas (and most of the eastern United States it looks like). This plant has both male and female flowers on the same spike of the plant. The male at the top and the female at the bottom (hmm, maybe someone needs to talk to the female flowers) 
  The plant can be easly identified by its three leaves leaflets as well as it's spiked flowers. Jack blooms in the spring from April to June. In the fall red berries about 1/3 of an inch round will be found on the plant in a conical shape up to 3 inches long. This is a member of the herb family and the root can be eaten, but only after being boiled several times. The root has an extremely sharp taste and irritates the mouth tissue other wise.

Picture from University of Texas Plant Resource Guide

3 comments:

Laura Eno said...

Those female flowers need a lesson in assertiveness!
I wonder who got stuck with the multiple taste tests it took before they found the right amount of boiling?

Rek Sesh said...

Centuries of trail and error help us today to cook the right way. What to do, even the males in the plant kingdom are showing off studs.

Theres just life said...

Laura, I quite agree. I sure would have hated to be the taster.
Hi Rek,That's the way I learned and still do... trial and error. Luckily not as many errors now a days.