About Arisaema quinatum (Nutt.) Schott
Arisaema quinatum is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant that grows from a corm. Like other species in the Arisaema triphyllum complex, it produces three leaflets per leaf. However, its lateral leaflets are typically two-parted or lobed, which gives the plant an overall appearance of having five leaflets per leaf. The spathe hood of this species is elliptic to orbicular in shape, with a sharply pointed abruptly apiculate tip. Its spadix appendix is thin, cylindrical, and curved outward. In comparison, the spadix appendix of other members of the complex is thicker, sometimes club-shaped, and straight. The shape of the spathe hood and the curved spadix appendix make this taxon easy to recognize, usually even when preserved as a herbarium specimen. Arisaema quinatum is narrowly endemic to the southeastern United States, with a range extending from North Carolina to east Texas. It has been recorded, though rarely, as far north as West Virginia. A separate disjunct population grows in the central Florida Panhandle, in Walton, Liberty, Leon, and Jefferson counties. In this region, the species is commonly known as Prester John.
