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jack-in-the-pulpit

 
Dictionary: jack-in-the-pul·pit
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(jăk'ĭn-THə-pʊl'pĭt, -pŭl'-)
n., pl., jack-in-the-pulpits.
An eastern North American tuberous herb (Arisaema triphyllum) having a striped, leaflike spathe with a bent blade and three-lobed leaves. Also called Indian turnip.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: jack-in-the-pulpit
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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.

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WordNet: Indian turnip
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with overarching green and purple spathe producing scarlet berries
  Synonyms: jack-in-the-pulpit, wake-robin, Arisaema triphyllum, Arisaema atrorubens

 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more