General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 4a -34.4 °C (-30 °F) to -31.7 °C (-25 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 9b
Plant Height: 12 to 36 inches (30-90cm)
Plant Spread: 12 to 18 inches (30-45cm)
Leaves: Spring ephemeral
Other: Usually single compound leaf.
Fruit: Showy
Edible to birds
Other: Berries orange to red when ripe.
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Green
Other: Spathe light green sometimes purple marked, spadix green to green and orange or yellow.
Flower Time: Spring
Underground structures: Tuber
Uses: Medicinal Herb
Will Naturalize
Edible Parts: Fruit
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Rabbit Resistant
Toxicity: Other: All parts of plant contain calcium oxalate crystals, an irritant to the mouth and esophagus. Toxic to cats and dogs. Roots may be dried before consumption (see comments).
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Stratify seeds
Suitable for wintersowing
Other info: Remove seed(s) from berry which contains chemicals that inhibit germination.
Propagation: Other methods: Offsets
Pollinators: Flies
Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon
Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
Needs excellent drainage in pots
Miscellaneous: Goes Dormant
Endangered: MA, NH, NY, VT, QC.

Image
Common names
  • Greendragon
  • Green Dragon
  • Dragon Root
  • Dragonroot
  • Green-Dragon
  • North American Dragon Root
Botanical names
  • Accepted: Arisaema dracontium
  • Synonym: Arisaema boscii

Photo Gallery
Location: RHS Harlow Carr alpine house, Yorkshire
Date: 2018-07-22
Location: Slip Bluff State Park in Iowa
Date: 2010-05-27
Location: RHS Harlow Carr alpine house, Yorkshire
Date: 2018-07-15
Location: Little garden of Big Dreams, Dayton KY
Date: 5/2/2020
Location: My garden in southeast Nebraska
Date: 2012-05-13
Location: My garden in southeast Nebraska
Date: 2012-05-13

Photo Courtesy of Lazy S'S Farm Nursery.
  • Uploaded by Joy
Location: garden of botanist Robert R. Kowal in Madison, Wisconsin
Date: 2013-06-09
Photo courtesy of: James Steakley
Location: North Carolina, USA
Date: June 26, 2011
Green fruit cluster.
Location: Bicentennial Trail, Ashland City, Cheatham County, Tennessee, US
Steven J. Baskauf http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/

photo courtesy of Sunlight Gardens, www.sunlightgardens.com
This plant is tagged in:
Image

Comments:
  • Posted by jmorth (central Illinois) on Nov 25, 2011 7:22 PM concerning plant:
    Single leaf; highly dissected w/ deep narrow lobes is attached to smooth green stalk. Leaf divided into odd number of segments (5-15) each one lance shaped up to 10" long and 4" wide. Segments are smooth, without teeth. Flowers branches off from leaf stalk near base and are wrapped in a tubular green sheath (spathe). Inside the sheath, flowers are crowded along a column (spadix),. emerging therefrom a tail-like green cylindrical column to 7" long.(the tail).
    A cluster of shiny orange-red fruit develops therefrom in the fall.
    Indians dried the corm and used it for food. Without the drying, eating would render one's mouth an intense burning pain due to the presence of calcium oxalate crystals.
    Green dragons are found in moist woods and are not uncommon (in Illinois).
  • Posted by SongofJoy (Clarksville, TN - Zone 6b) on Jan 14, 2012 10:39 AM concerning plant:
    Green Dragon is similar to Jack-in-the-Pulpit in its general form and structure, but it is a much more dramatic looking plant. A stout single leaf divided into 7 to 15 leaflets which spread a foot or more in width and may grow up to 3 1/2 feet tall. From its base, a green and brown mottled flower stalk rises in late spring with the same spathe and spadix structure as in Jack-in-the-Pulpit. The spadix is long and twists snake-like up through the leaflets of the plant. The effect is exotic, but this plant is fully hardy and will do well in light shade and rich, moist soil. Plants die back down to the ground right after flowering unless they make berries but emerge again in mid-spring.
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Incorrect plant by Lilydaydreamer Aug 18, 2023 9:46 AM 2

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