Wildflower (forb) · Araceae
Jack in the pulpit
Arisaema triphyllum · includes its varieties and subspecies
Jack in the pulpit is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Jack in the pulpit at a glance
- Native in
- 1,509 counties, across 37 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Jack in the pulpit is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,509 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 38 counties
- Arkansas 46 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 38 counties
- Georgia 46 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 15 counties
- Kansas 27 counties
- Kentucky 93 counties
- Louisiana 42 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 79 counties
- Minnesota 72 counties
- Mississippi 46 counties
- Missouri 67 counties
- Nebraska 17 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 21 counties
- New York 58 counties
- North Carolina 60 counties
- North Dakota 5 counties
- Ohio 78 counties
- Oklahoma 11 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 28 counties
- South Dakota 8 counties
- Tennessee 72 counties
- Texas 24 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- West Virginia 45 counties
- Wisconsin 68 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 34 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 175
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Araceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARTR
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Arisaema triphyllum (PLANTS symbol ARTR), including 3 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources