Jack-In-The-Pulpit

 

Unique and elegant, these spring flowers employ deception in the production of seeds. Their main pollinator is the fungus gnat which is drawn in by its fetid odor to lay eggs.  Once within the flower, gnats struggle to find escape, incapable of climbing the slippery plant walls and flying out through the top.  The male flowers provide one escape route through a hole in the bottom, forcing pollen on the insects before visiting the female flowers. 

-Alice Roosevelt, Westmoreland Naturalist, B.S. Conservation Biology, SUNY ESF

Picture Credit: Patrick Carney