Jack-in-the-Pulpit along the Little Miami River

Surrounded by Toadshade Trillium (Trillium sessile), Drooping Trillium (Trillium flexipes), spent Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), and Mayapples (Polophyllum peltatum), Green Jack stood unassuming among the lush green growth of the spring foliage along the Little Miami River...and I nearly passed him by!

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) stands tall beside Toadshade Trillium (Trillium sessile). Its three leaves, which grow on a separate stalk, are just starting to unfurl.

Heavy with raindrops, the three leaves on this plant are much further along than those in the previous photo, and you can see just how large they can get.

"Jack" is the club-shaped spadix, while the cone-shaped spathe is the "pulpit."

...even Jack can look dramatic when the shadows fall on the dark hillside and rain threatens overhead.

The little patch of Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) I found last week along the Little Miami River is still safe and sound, but the water is getting higher, and the rain keeps falling...

Last May I drove up to Cedar Bog (which is really a fen...) in Urbana, Ohio and photographed Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants along the boardwalk. Many of those "pulpits" had the dark maroon striping on them. Click here for that post.

Jack-in-the-pulpit at Cedar Bog

Spring wildflowers at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve in Urbana, Ohio

...continued from the Wild Columbine post.
Weather conditions weren’t the best when Teri and I walked into the woods. The boardwalk was slick with moisture and low, grey clouds rolled overhead, sealing out the sunlight and giving the woods the feeling of early evening. Plants were dripping with water from earlier showers and moisture hung in the air, but greenness is what you felt and noticed most. Maybe the lack of color everywhere else let the plants glow ultra-green in the low light, or maybe it was just early spring and green was still “new” in our eyes. Either way, the heaviness of the green was memorable, and I wondered if the place would look different in bright sunlight.

...water dripped from branches and leaves and soaked the wildflowers.

It was beautiful to see and hear the remnants of the earlier storms.

...deep shadows and dark green. Sometimes overcast, rainy days yield subtle surprises.

Jack! You have a wonderful profile...

...newly leafed, I love this bright, bright green.

The macro lens pulls me in so close I now see things I never saw before.

Is all the green getting to you? The plants are just as interesting in black and white, maybe more so...

...without the color, the delicate veining in the spathe is more pronounced.

...I like the quiet and stillness that show up in black and white photos.

Needless to say, I fell in love with Jack-in-the-pulpit. I don't get to see this plant very often. It is so beautiful and unique I hope to see more.