North American plant (Arisaema triphyllum) of the arum family,
noted for the unusual shape of its flower. One of the best-known
perennial wildflowers of late spring in the eastern U.S. and
Canada, it grows in wet woodlands and thickets from Nova Scotia
to Minnesota and south to Florida and Texas. Three-part leaves
on each of two long stalks overshadow the flower, which consists
of a conspicuous green- and purple-striped structure called a
spathe (pulpit) that rises on a separate stalk. The spathe
curves in a hood over a club-shaped spadix (jack) that, at its
base, bears minute flowers. In late summer the plant produces a
cluster of brilliant red berries that are poisonous to humans
but are eaten by many wild animals.