Arisaema dracontium

The Arisaema dracontium, also known as the Dragon Arum or Green Dragon in Quebec, is a medium-sized North American botanical species characterised by a narrow inflorescence in a beautiful chartreuse green spathe surrounding a whitish spadix, terminated by a fine orangish appendix, decorative bright red fruits, and a unique umbrella-shaped leaf. It is a hardy Arum that thrives in the shade of moist undergrowth, often on clayey or poorly drained soil.

The Arisaema dracontium belongs to the Araceae family, just like Arums and Jack-in-the-pulpits. Its origins range from Texas to Florida, and Ontario to Quebec. This species is currently endangered due to the disappearance of its habitat, mainly consisting of very wet areas in spring, more or less wooded. It is a herbaceous perennial plant with a globose corm, an underground storage organ close to a tubercle, reaching up to 8 cm (3in) in diameter. The vegetation emerges from the ground in the spring, reaching 75 cm (30in) to 1 m (3ft) in height depending on the growing conditions. It takes the form of a leafy stem that bears only one decorative leaf, measuring 20 to 50 cm (8 to 20in) in diameter, divided into 3 to 20 fan-shaped leaflets, bright green in colour. Flowering occurs between late May and July. From the ground emerges a typical flower heads of the Araceae family, consisting of a central spadix in the form of a narrow column, surrounded by a cone-shaped spathe. Here, the chartreuse green spathe forms an open cylinder around the tiny true flowers clustered on the spadix, which measures between 15 and 30 cm (6 and 12in) in length. The fruit is a bright red berry, measuring 5 to 10 mm (1in) in diameter. The plant goes into vegetative dormancy in late summer, in the form of a tubercle.

Arisaema dracontium is a curiosity, little known to gardeners, which can be planted in cool, lightly shaded and moist areas or at the edge of undergrowth, where the sun is filtered. It is a rather pretty but discreet plant, which can be associated with ferns, bamboo (Fargesia), hostas, Epimedium, Bégonia grandis, rhododendrons, azaleas, or oriental lilies.

Originating mainly from Asia, there are currently over 150 species of Arisaema. More than half of these species live in temperate zones and are therefore easily cultivable in our latitudes. They like wooded environments, humus-rich and cool soils, but not waterlogged for the most part.