Wikimedia Commons
Araceae
Green Dragon
Arisaema dracontium
Shadowed mystery.
- Family
- Araceae
- Genus
- Arisaema
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 1-4 ft
- Sunlight
- part shade to full shade
- Soil
- moist to wet, humus-rich, alluvial
- Water
- moderate to high
- Hardiness
- 4-9
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The long, thread-like spadix protrudes dramatically beyond the green spathe, resembling a dragon's tongue and giving the plant its common name.
- Unlike jack-in-the-pulpit (its close relative), green dragon bears a single large leaf divided into 7–15 leaflets that fans out horizontally, giving it a prehistoric look.
- The plant is sequentially hermaphroditic: young, small corms produce male flowers; as the corm grows larger over years, it switches to producing female flowers.
- Ripe berries form a vivid red-orange cluster that is toxic to mammals but eagerly eaten by thrushes and wood thrushes, which disperse the seeds.
- Native Americans used the dried, powdered corm medicinally — fresh corms contain calcium oxalate crystals that cause intense burning, requiring extensive preparation before use.
Color meanings
0
hidden power
1
ancient earth
2
transformation