Green Dragon
Growth habit
Herbaceous
Native distribution
Native to the Finger Lakes Region, North America from Quebec through MN South through FL and TX
Cultivation
An unusual plant with 1-4' tall stems supporting a single leaf that resembles dragon wings when emerging alongside the flower spike in spring. Inflorescence consists of a narrow, tapering sheath (spathe) and long tongue of many tiny flowers (spadix).
Light: part to full shade.
Moisture and Soil: moist, rich soil - likes flood plain forests and riverbank meadows.
Propagation
Seed Treatment and Storage: Remove red pulp and keep seeds moist after harvesting. Cold moist stratify
for 60-90 days (warm moist then cold moist). The young plant will send up one leaf the second spring.
Biocultural value
The Menominee used green dragon medicinally for gynecological disorders and included the root in sacred bundles, where it was said to give the power of supernatural dreams to the owner.
The statements above were sourced from:
Native American Ethnobotany Database: http://naeb.BRIT Native American Ethnobotany Database.org/
Wildlife value
Green dragon flowers attract simple flies (suborder Nematocera), who pollinate the tiny, aggregated flowers. Woodland birds such as the wild turkey and wood thrush eat the fruit. Mammalian herbivores avoid the toxic foliage.
Poisonous
yes
Poisonous description
The entire green dragon plant contains needle-like crystals of calcium oxalate which become embedded in mucus membranes if ingested and cause intense pain and a burning sensation. Calcium oxalate is particularly abundant in the rhizome. Those who eat it rarely go beyond the first taste. Most of the plants in the Araceae (arum family) have this property.
Location
Source of plant
Unknown
Description
To 80cm. Leaf solitary, pedate, segment 10-15cm, 7-15, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, acuminate; petiole mottled, basally sheathing, basal bracts white or dull pink. Spathe poorly differentiated into tube and limb, base 5-7cm, narrow, apical portion to 5cm ovate to oblon-ovate, short-acuminate; spadix appendix to 15cm, white at base, green, becoming filiform in apical two thirds.
USDA Hardiness Zone
4
Status
L2|S4|G5