Is this Jack-in-the-Pulpit?

[John G]

I'm sort of sure this is Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but I'm not comfortable with sort ofs when it comes to wild edibles. I figured I'd take it before the court of greater knowledge and experience.

Here's a few pics of the ones I found:

I touched it with my walking stick just in case it bites.

Thanks for the help!

 

[LMT66]

Sure does look like it to me.
I went out last weekend to a shady hill where I found some last fall. Looks just like your photo's. Might gain some nice color over the next few months. Big red berry stalk in the fall.

 

[Ferrousknight]

Yes it most certainly is, but you mention wild edibles. While I have heard that natives used the root as a starch source after extensive preparation, I have not heard of any procedure (in modern terms, beyond vague statements) to render it edible. The roots contain sharp crystals of calcium oxalate which cut up the throat and cause at least irritation, if not possibly life-threatening swelling. Similar plants that can supposedly be made edible by extended cooking such as skunk cabbage (which contains similar crystals) apparently do not improve much as reported by Wildman Steve Brill. I have personally tried another arum species that had been cooked by extended roasting and drying by an experimental archaeologist and it still gave an unpleasant burning sensation. I am under the impression that jack in the pulpit is rather worse than either.

Having a background in chemistry, soaking or simmering thin slices in wood ash water made from old ashes (a solution of potassium carbonate) would probably effectively destroy the calcium oxalate crystals but at a cost of nutrient loss.

 

[tonym]

Yeah that's Jack in the Pulpit. Like Ferrousknight said, I wouldn't go about calling that plant edible. Joezilla and I got tricked into trying a bit of the root of that plant; I would say it is similar to swallowing broken glass...

 

[John G]

I read on eattheweeds.com that the corm is edible after slicing and drying (specifically in a microwave,) but that it is toxic without preparation. Also, native Americans took advantage of it's toxicity and used it as a topical painkiller.

 

[Bhamster]

That is absolutely Jack in the pulpit. Only a real masochist with a death wish would consider it edible. I have heard of throats swelling shut and a pt. requiring airway support from other plants with calcium oxalate crystals from a doctor neighbor of mine.

 

[Handwrecker]

Definitely is jack-in-the-Pulpit. I had a friend once who told me that Jack-in-the-Pulpit was actually ginger, when I was younger and before I knew my stuff better. I took it home, cleaned and diced it up, then cooked it with some pork. Needless to say, the broken glass analogy is spot on. It didn't do anything bad to me, I was lucky. But I have heard of others having much worse reactions, some requiring medical help.

 

[unit]

Man, with friends that pull tricks like that on you, who needs enemies?

Interesting plant but I think I would pass on any attempts to render it edible. Seems like a bad ratio of work to potential risk.

 

[Joezilla]

Yeah that's Jack in the Pulpit. Like Ferrousknight said, I wouldn't go about calling that plant edible. Joezilla and I got tricked into trying a bit of the root of that plant; I would say it is similar to swallowing broken glass...

He's not kidding...

 

[John G]

It looks like the jury is in. I'll be leaving JITP alone, for safety's sake. Thanks for the advice, everyone!

 

[tychoseven]

I have eaten Jack-in-the-Pulpit before, and still live to tell the tale. My advice is to slice the root thinly and dry them on a rock beside the fire. I found it bland and starchy, but palatable. Make sure it's very dry, like a potato chip, or you'll regret it. Feels like hornets stinging the inside of your mouth (or broken glass, that's another good description). Ask me how I know