Some of the coolest looking plants that I saw last Saturday at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens were Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit flowers (Arisaema sikokianum). There is something so alien and exotic about this plant that it stopped me in my tracks when I first spotted it.
According to the Plant Delights Nursery, Inc. website, the dark pitcher and two five-lobed leaves of this plant emerge on a 12 inch tall (30 cm) fleshy stalk from an underground tuber in early spring. As the pitcher opens, it reveals a swollen, pure white, protruding spadix that provides a dramatic contrast to the purple of the pitcher.
The Japanese Jack-in-the-Pulpit is closely related to the Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), which, according to Wikipedia, is common to the eastern United States. I checked the range map and the Jack-in-the-Pulpit can be found in Virginia where I live, though I have not yet spotted one. When I looked at photos of the American species, it looks fairly similar to the Japanese variant, but the spadix, the part that is the “Jack” in the name, is darker in color and the pitcher more closely matches the leaves. Check out this blog posting by Steve Gingold to see a beautiful photo of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing wild in his area of New England.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That is one cool jack, Jack! So different from the species we have here. Ours inconveniently has the spadix hidden by a drooping hood. Sometimes folks lift the hood up as the Japanese Jack in the Pulpit in your image to show it. I wonder if they would thrive here.
We have some common Jacks growing under our Japanese Maple and a Japanese Jack in the Pulpit would make a nice pairing.
Nice shots, Mike.
I think they require a moist shaded area, Steve, but I can’t say for certain that they would thrive there. I was really confused when I first looked up Jack-in-the-Pulpit and none of the images looked like the ones I had photographed. Almost all of the photos showed the drooping hood that you described. I had to dig a bit deeper to discover that this was a different Jack.
What a striking looking plant. I have not heard of it and I do not believe I have ever seen one.
This is the kind of plant that I would somehow expect to see in a climate controlled area, like the orchids I see in a humid greenhouse, but instead it was in a moist outdoor garden in an area with lots of ferns.
stunning, thank you.,
Wow!
That’s such a pretty flower, Mike. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. Thanks.
I wasn’t sure I had ever seen one until Steve mentioned the ones up north are covered by the hood 😁. Nice images that worked perfect with your details. Thanks to you and Steve 🙏🙏
Oh so lovely, Mike, your photos of the Jack-in-the-pulpits. You captured their exotic and elegant beauty so nicely. And now I’m off to see Steve’s, thanks for the link.
What an exotic plant, it looks like an Olympic torch! Thanks!
Carol
I can definitely see the resemblance to the Olympic torch. I remember well when the US hosted the Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 and there was a relay around much of the USA carrying the torch.
Very nice series of images Mike!
This is so special, never seen this plant before.
Pitcher plants are fascinating. I remember going to a garden in France that specialised in them and was amazed at the variety, size and colours.
I have always found the shapes of pitcher plants to be fascinating, particularly the ones that capture insects. Plants come in so many different shapes and varieties that it is easy for me to get overwhelmed by their diversity. Sometimes I am attracted by colors, while at other times shapes, patterns, and textures capture my attention.
[…] spotted it last year in early May at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia. Check out my posting from last year if you would like more details of my first encounter with this plant […]