Jack in the Pulpit

I attended a church where the kind of pulpit they are referring to was used. The pulpit was reached by climbing a set of stairs .... it was like a little tower at the front of the church. Over the pulpit was a flat wooden disk..... maybe four or five feet wide that was suspended from the ceiling. This acted as an amplifier for the speaking voice of the Pastor which would  bounce off of this disk and carry out into the congregation so everyone could hear the speaker better.  The flower is aptly named, though it contains a very quiet speaker. The Jack is called the spadix and the pulpit is the spathe. As I understand it, this plant starts out male and when it has gotten strong enough and its leaves and root system can produce and store enough energy it will become female and produce fruit.... if conditions change.... drought, or if it is transplanted, it reverts back to being male. To tell if the flower is male or female look into the spathe, and at the base of the spadix. If there are little flowers or green berries, it is female. If it is male, it will have hairy pollen like fibers at the base of the spadix.  Fascinating! Such a complex world we live in.

Where I found it : On the tow path of an old canal