Another volunteer native plant that migrated from my neighbor’s yard to ours is Jack-in-the-Pulpit. I discovered one this spring under some arborvitaes. It was already a foot tall.
This curious little plant can change its sex from year to year depending on the plant’s age and environmental conditions.
The green and maroon-striped spathe (or sheathing bract) attracts insects for pollination.
Jack-in-the-Pulpit is a native in all of the Eastern United States and Canada. Plants can live as long as 25 years and colonize (over time) in moist, shady areas.
In late summer bright-red berries form where the flower was, but those berries and the leaves of this plant are toxic and can cause irritation to the skin when handled. Birds are not affected, and they love those berries.
I would consider the area this plant is growing in to be dry shade except that there’s a birdbath a foot away. I regularly dump out the water in that area, so maybe that is why this plant is growing so happily.
