jack-in-the-pulpit

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jack-in-the-pulpit

A jack-in-the-pulpit grows in the dappled shade of a forest.

Definition

Noun: 1. A North American woodland plant (Arisaema triphyllum) of the arum family, characterized by a distinctive flower structure consisting of a hood-like spathe (the "pulpit") that arches over a central, club-shaped spadix (the "jack"). 2. A common European arum (Arum maculatum) with similar structural features.

Usage and Examples
  • Noun:
    • We found a beautiful jack-in-the-pulpit growing near the creek.
    • The jack-in-the-pulpit is easily identified by its striped spathe and cluster of red berries in the fall.
Advanced Usage
  • The term is used literally to refer to the specific plant species. Its unique common name is a direct metaphor for its physical appearance, likening the flower structure to a preacher (jack) in a raised enclosed platform (pulpit).
Variants and Related Words
  • Arum: The family (Araceae) to which the jack-in-the-pulpit belongs.
  • Spathe: The large, often colorful bract or leaf that surrounds the flower cluster.
  • Spadix: The fleshy, spike-shaped stem bearing the plant's tiny flowers.
Synonyms
  • Indian turnip (a common name for , referring to its edible corm when properly cooked).
  • Wake-robin (a name shared with trillium, sometimes used for ).
  • Lords-and-ladies (a common name for the European ).
jack-in-the-pulpit

A jack-in-the-pulpit grows in the dappled shade of a forest.

Noun
  1. common European arum with lanceolate spathe and short purple spadix; emerges in early spring; source of a starch called arum
  2. common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with overarching green and purple spathe producing scarlet berries