''Arisaema dracontium'', the dragon-root or green dragon, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the genus ''

Arisaema ''Arisaema'' is a large and diverse genus of the flowering plant family Araceae. The largest concentration of species is in China and Japan, with other species native to other parts of southern Asia as well as eastern and central Africa, Mexico ...

'' and the family Araceae. It is native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

through

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

south through

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and

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, where it is found growing in damp woods. It has also been reported from northeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

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) Plants grow tall when in bloom and after flowering reach , and each grows from a

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

. Normally, a plant produces one leaf with a long petiole, its leaf is composed of 7 to 13 leaflets, with its central leaflet being the largest one and with leaflets becoming smaller as they are produced distally, the leaflets are held out horizontally over the plant. During flowering in spring, a single slender, green

spathe In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

long is produced; it covers a tapering, long thin spadix. The tail-like spadix grows out around the top of its spathe. After flowering, up to 150 berries are produced in a club-shaped column. In late summer, the green berries turn orange-red, each berry produces 1 to 3 seeds. It is listed as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

in Canada. Harriet Martineau, in recounting her travels in America in the 1830s, reported observing a young woman "rubbing her teeth with dragon-root."Martineau, Harriett, ''Society in America'', Vol.I, pp.177-178 (New York, 1837) (retrieved Dec. 18, 2022).
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Classification

Within the genus ''Arisaema'', ''A. dracontium'' is classified in the section ''Tortuosa'' and is most closely related to the Mexican '' A. macrophyllum''. In fact, ''A. macrophyllum'' has sometimes been considered a subspecies of ''A. dracontium''. The rest of the section contains species from east Asia and India. ''A. dracontium'' is not a close relative to the other American ''Arisaema'' species, '' A. triphyllum'' (jack-in-the-pulpit), which is in a different section of ''Arisaema''. Like ''A. triphyllum'', the tuberous taproot can cause a burning sensation if eaten raw.

References

dracontium ''Dracontium'' is a genus of flowering plants similar to those of ''Amorphophallus''. Unlike ''Amorphophallus'' which is found in the Old World, this genus has a New World distribution and is native to South America, Central America, southern Mex ...

Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of Canada Flora of Mexico Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Araceae-stub