ARUM FAMILY 



Ariscema triphyllum, (L.) Schott. 



Purple-brown Jack-in-the-pulpit, Wake-robin, 



and green Arum, Priests' Pintle, 



Indian Turnip, Lords-and-Ladies, 



April-July Meadow-turnip, Wild Pepper, 



Pepper-turnip, Brown Dragon, 



Marsh-turnip, Bog-onion, 



Swamp-turnip, Starch-wort. 



Ariscema: from Greek word for the kind of Arum, a plant 

 from which arrowroot is extracted, and from a Greek 

 word meaning blood, because of the spotted leaves of 

 some of the species. 



Triphyllum: from Greek for three-leaved. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: low or wet, shaded thickets. 

 THE PLANT: one foot to two feet high. 



THE LEAVES: dull green; rising from the fleshy bulb-like 

 base of the stem; ten inches high or more, usually taller 

 than the flower stalk; three divided; about two inches 

 wide or more; with entire or sometimes lobed margins. 

 The leaflets ovate. 



THE FLOWERS: on a blunt and club-shaped spadix, two 

 inches to three inches long; over the top of the column 

 curves a lanceolate and tapering flap, green and purple 

 striped or wholly green. 



THE FRUIT: berries, smooth and shining and bright red, 

 in a dense ovoid head. 



A "foreigner" may be surprised to find this plant under 

 its Nantucket conditions, for one is inclined to think of 



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