Arisaema dracontium (Linnaeus) Schott. Common name: Green Dragon. Phenology: May-Jun; Jul-Aug. Habitat: Bottomlands and floodplains, rarely in uplands over mafic or calcareous rocks or substrates. Distribution: S. QC, MI, and WI, south to n. peninsular FL and e. TX.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Taxonomy Comments: Ward (2012b) recognized two varieties: var. dracontium with the "spathe tightly inrolled around the spadix, to 1.5 cm broad when unrolled" and var. macrospathum (Bentham) D.G. Huttleston ex D.B. Ward, with the "spathe flared distally, forming a blade, to 2.5 cm broad". The "macrospathium" name is based on a type in Mexico and is misapplied to our taxon; this entity is here treated as Arisaema species 1.
Synonymy ⓘ: = Ar, C, Can, ETx1, F, FNA22, G, GrPl, GW1, Il, K4, Mi, Mo1, NcTx, NE, NY, Ok, Pa, RAB, Tat, Tn, Tx, Va, W, WH3, Gusman & Gusman (2002), Spaulding et al (2019); = Muricauda dracontium (L.) Small — S; > Arisaema dracontium (L.) Schott var. dracontium — Ward (2012b); > Arisaema dracontium (L.) Schott var. macrospathum (Benth.) Huttl. ex D.B.Ward — Ward (2012b); Arum dracontium Linnaeus. Basionym: Arum dracontium L. 1753
Links to other floras: = Arisaema dracontium - FNA22
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Wetland Indicator Status:
- Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACW (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
- Great Plains: FACW (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Midwest: FACW (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
- Northcentral & Northeast: FACW (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
Heliophily ⓘ: 2
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© Alan Cressler: Arisaema dracontium, Berry College Campus, Floyd County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷
© Scott Ward | Original Image ⭷Feedback
Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect perennial found in bottomlands and floodplains, and occasionally in uplands over mafic rocks.
Stems:
Leaves: Leaf single, on a long petiole (to 20 in.), forked and divided into 5-15 elliptic leaflets arranged on a semi-circular axis.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in a yellowish-green, long-tipped spadix terminating a separate stalk and partially enclosed by a pale green, leaf-like spathe; flowers minute, lacking petals and sepals; a plant may have all female, all male, or both kinds of flowers, in which case female flowers are lowest on the spadix.
Fruits: Fruit orange-red berries in a conical head at tip of spadix.
Comments:
Height: 1-2 ft.
plant sale text: A low wet area is an ideal site for Green Dragons. Average garden soil is fine, too. Its dramatic flower-like spathes have a hood and "tongue" hence their common name of Green Dragon. This plant is related to Jack-in-the-Pulpit, although it is less common. The handsome dissected leaves of the Green Dragon provide an excellent contrast to more delicate woodland plants.
bloom table text:
description: Erect perennial found in bottomlands and floodplains, and occasionally in uplands over mafic rocks.
stems:
leaves: Leaf single, on a long petiole (to 20 in.), forked and divided into 5-15 elliptic leaflets arranged on a semi-circular axis.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in a yellowish-green, long-tipped spadix terminating a separate stalk and partially enclosed by a pale green, leaf-like spathe; flowers minute, lacking petals and sepals; a plant may have all female, all male, or both kinds of flowers, in which case female flowers are lowest on the spadix.
fruits: Fruit orange-red berries in a conical head at tip of spadix.
comments:
cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: eastern North America
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