Arisaema dracontium, the "green dragon," is one of our favorite plants. It appears in moist, shady woods near streams and pools, usually in May. It is a floodplain species, with a growing season that begins after spring floods recede. Green dragon can be found throughout the Midwest, but it is more rare—or almost absent—in northern areas. It has been designated as "threatened" in Québec, and a species of "special concern" in Ontario, primarily because of human development leading to increased flooding in floodplains.

The green dragon's composition is very simple: one compound leaf, and one flower stem. The compound leaf is quite large, and divided into 5–13 leaflets that radiate from the curving stem and almost always manage to arrange themselves so that their flat surfaces are parallel to the ground. The flower appears in late May or June and consists of a single, slender "spathe" wrapped in a long "spadix," reminiscent of the flowers of Jack-in-the-pulpit, to which green dragon is closely related. Over the summer the leaves wither away, and the flower is transformed into a cluster of green, then red berries.

green dragon is a denizen of shady floodplains dappled with patches of sunlight . . . the illustrated plants are fully mature, with flowers (look below the leaves)

the spadix encases the flower

flowers are yellow to orange on a yellow spade

withered spade and spadix

leaflets are strongly veined, dark green above and paler green below

young plant with 6 leaflets

mature plant with 10 leaflets

berries are green at first

by the time berries are ripening, leaves are withering

mature berries are red

References: GN Jones 1971, RL Jones 2005, Voss & Reznicek 2012, Donley et al. 2013, Kurz 2014, Mohlenbrock 2014, Hilty 2020, USDA 2020.

Kuo, Michael & Melissa Kuo (September, 2020). Arisaema dracontium (green dragon). Retrieved from the midwestnaturalist.com website: www.midwestnaturalist.com/arisaema_dracontium.html

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