Jack in the Pulpit

From: schwartzl at juno.com (Linda M Schwartz) on 1997.02.03 at 14:37:22(289) I am looking from some specific info that perhaps some expert gardener can answer. I am writing a paper on the ecology of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit. +More In some of the references I have used, it is stated that the sex of the plant is dependent upon the age, soil conditions and nutrition level of the individual plant. What I need to know is -- what are those soil conditions, age, nutrition levels. I have not been able to find a reference that addresses this specific point. If anyone can provide me with these details, I would be eternally grateful :) . If the material comes from a book, I would need its title, authors, place of publication, publisher and copyright date. If the info is coming from your expertise, I would need to know your qualifications for making the statement. Thank you for any assistance you can provide. If you think you know a site or person I can contact that might be able to answer this, I would be grateful for any leads also. You can e-mail me at schwartzl@juno.com. Linda Schwartz

From: grsjr at juno.com (George R Stilwell, Jr.) on 1997.02.04 at 00:40:10(294) Linda, Here are the original sources: Richardson, C. & K. Clay 1995. The evolution and maintenance of sex change in Arisaema triphyllum. Am. J. of Botany, Supplement 82(6):55. Wurdack, John J. 1983. Sex and Size in Arisaema. Bulletin of the American Rock Garden Society. 41(1):9-10. Bierzychudek, Paulette. 1981. The demography of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, a forest perennial that changes sex. PhD thesis. Cornell Univ. 145 pages. I don't have a record of other papers on the subject, but these papers probably have bibliographies. It is well understood that Arisaema starts it's sex life neuter, becomes male in the second season, turns female in a couple of years if growing conditions are good. Poor conditions will cause it to revert to male and even stay dormant for a whole season, worst case. Inadequate moisture is probably the principal problem. Hopefully the references will expound upon the subject. +More You might be interested to know that some Arisaema species grow only a corm and roots the first season (no leaf appears). The second season the leaf appears and all is normal. Needless to say, many good seedlings go to the dump before people learn about this trait. By the way, John Wurdak is a member of the Arisaema Enthusiast's Group and might be very helpful. He is not on-line, so you'll have to write to him at: John Wurdack 4400 Samar St. Beltsville, MD 20705 Ray GRSJr@Juno.com

From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt at clark.net> on 1997.02.04 at 04:03:36(297) Hi Linda, I don't know the specific answer to your question, however, I am certain that members of the Aroid-L mailing list would. I can either forward this to that list (I'm new on it and basically lurk - I think it is a monitored list - nice people) below are instructions on how to join the list so you can post your question yourself, if you'd like. If you are interested in Arisaema, you really should join the list. There are also some aroid pages on the web. The URL for the International Aroid Society is: http://www.mobot.org/IAS/ +More URL for the Arisaema Page is: http://www.mdc.net/~rrh/arisaema.html Hope this helps, let me know if you want me to cross post for you. BTW, I grow the common jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, and I've never noticed a variance of sex. Seems to me that the plants have to reach a certain age before they flower and set seed and once they start, they just keep on doing it. I'm sure there are people on Aroid-L who know a whole lot more about it than I do, tho'. Nifty plants, I'm starting to get more of them - different kinds and trying to grow some besides A. triphyllum from seed. Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland mtalt@clark.net Editor: Gardening in Shade http://www.suite101.com ===================== Aroid-L info ===================== Aroid-L is co-moderated by Steve Marak and Don Burns. The moderators filter out extraneous messages and other items that do not belong on Aroid-L; some communications do not aid the dialog and may belong on another list. As moderators, we will not alter the substance of anyone's post. However, the subject line may be changed to facilitate ease of searching the log. Contributions may vary in length. Please sign your name and e-mail address to each post. Aroid-L asks all subscribers to abide by appropriate copyright and intellectual property conventions and laws. TO SUBSCRIBE: send a message to: listproc@mobot.org (no subject). On the first line of message text type: SUB AROID-L Given Name Surname and Affiliation (if any). TO POST A MESSAGE TO AROID-L: send your message to: aroid-l@mobot.org. Enter a subject on the subject line. This is important for searching the weekly logs for messages relating to a specific subject. ================================== ---------- > From: Linda M Schwartz > To: mtalt@clark.net > Subject: Jack in the Pulpit > Date: Monday, February 03, 1997 9:38 AM > > I am looking from some specific info that perhaps some expert gardener > can answer. I am writing a paper on the ecology of the > Jack-in-the-Pulpit. > In some of the references I have used, it is stated that the sex of the > plant is dependent upon the age, soil conditions and nutrition level of > the individual > plant. What I need to know is -- what are those soil conditions, age, > nutrition > levels. I have not been able to find a reference that addresses this > specific > point. If anyone can provide me with these details, I would be eternally > grateful > :) . If the material comes from a book, I would need its title, > authors, place of publication, publisher and copyright date. If the info > is coming from your > expertise, I would need to know your qualifications for making the > statement. > Thank you for any assistance you can provide. If you think you know a > site or > person I can contact that might be able to answer this, I would be > grateful for any leads also. You can e-mail me at > > schwartzl@juno.com. Linda Schwartz > >

From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt at clark.net> on 1997.02.04 at 15:46:23(299) Apologies to this list. My face is red. Thought I was replying to a post on another list and sending a private response! Nice way to de-lurk, if I do say so :-( Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland mtalt@clark.net +More Editor: Gardening in Shade http://www.suite101.com ---------- > From: Marge Talt > To: aroid-l@mobot.org > Subject: Re: Jack in the Pulpit > Date: Monday, February 03, 1997 10:18 PM > > Hi Linda, > > I don't know the specific answer to your question, however, I am certain > that members of the Aroid-L mailing list would. I can either forward this (balance deleted - I've wasted enough bandwith already)

From: SHoltz1036 at aol.com on 1997.02.05 at 13:32:45(304) Dear Linda, A man by the name of Keith Clay did a couple of papers on flower size in A. draconitum; I know that this is not the species that you are writing the paper on, but it may help and you can reference them. All I can tell you (and this is from scant memory) is that Keith Clay was a professor at Indiana University as of a couple of years ago; he has written at least one paper on A. draconitum flower size; I can't remember the journal (the only reason I remember this much is because I did an undergraduate teaching internship under him a couple of years ago and recognised the name). However, you can reference his name in a scientific journal index; as a matter of fact, a scientific journal index search would be well worth your while if you can get to a university with a biology department. Lots of luck - Stacy

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