Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Alismatales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Arisaema dracontium
FAMILY
Araceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Do you have Green Dragon or a prolific imposter?
Learn more about Green Dragon from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Arisaema dracontium
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-05-001:
Arisaema dracontium FAMILY Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Muricauda dracontium
COMMON NAME:
Green Dragon
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_ardr3_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_ardr3_005_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm070414_018
April Calhoun County SC
Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm170401_430
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm200422_4048
April Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm150519_081
May Calhoun County SC
Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve
Leaf with (5)7-15 leaflets, arranged pedately on a semicircular axis, per Weakley's Flora.
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JK Marlow jkm230531_3698
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm230531_3700
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Spathe hood 2.5-3.5cm long, tightly enclosing the spadix, 1-1.5cm broad when unrolled, per A Review of Arisaema (Araceae) in North America: Nine species instead of two? (Wyatt & Stoneburner, 2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm230531_3711
May Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Flowers lack sepals and petals and may be all female, all male, or both (with the female lowest), per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_a_dracontium_7_4b
May
Spadices very long, attenuate, and strongly exserted from the tightly enclosing spathe, per A Review of Arisaema (Araceae) in North America: Nine species instead of two? (Wyatt & Stoneburner, 2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm190618_9284
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Wow! Jack in the Pulpit on the left; Green Dragon on the right.
)
JK Marlow jkm220626_8730
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
Betsy George bmg_070513_1766
July Greenville County SC
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Stephanie C. Brundage scb_072022SHighlandsRes47
July Transylvania County NC
Southern Highlands Reserve, Lake Toxaway
The leafstalk terminates in the center of a single, compound, curving blade, per Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006).
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_072022SHighlandsRes48
July Transylvania County NC
Southern Highlands Reserve, Lake Toxaway
Fruit a cluster of orange-red berries in a conical head at tip of spadix, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Arisaema dracontium
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Arisaema dracontium
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Arisaema dracontium
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-05-001:
Arisaema dracontium
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Muricauda dracontium
123
Forb
Perennial
Reversibly dioecious, or monoecious
Habitat: Bottomlands and floodplains, rarely in uplands over mafic or calcareous rocks or substrates, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in Mountains & GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Compound: 7-15 leaflets, arranged pedately on a semicircular axis
Basal
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Spathe yellowish-green, tightly enclosing the spadix, 1-1.5cm broad when unrolled/flattened
Inflorescence a spadix (attenuate, long-exserted from the spathe)
FRUIT:
Summer
Red
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p104
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers (Nelson, 2006) p223
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p129
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p104
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p428
- Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants p180
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p036
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p470
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p157
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p011
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p363
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p338
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p390
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p003
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