jack in the pulpit

English - English

Definition of jack in the pulpit in English English dictionary: A woodland plant of northern Europe, Arum maculatum; cat's cradle; A plant in the northeastern North America, Arisaema triphyllum; 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; common American spring-flowering woodland herb having sheathing leaves and an upright club-shaped spadix with overarching green and purple spathe producing scarlet berries