Margaret Wexler, age 9 of Kingston, Ontario, Canada, for her question:

HOW DID JACK IN THE PULPIT GET ITS NAME?

Jack in the pulpit is the name of a wild flower that you find growing in moist thickets and woodlands from Nova Scotia south to the Gulf States, and as far west as Minnesota.

Once you see the flower, you'll know exactly how it received its name. The oddly shaped flower looks as if a person is standing at a pulpit.

The part that looks like the preacher is the slender stalk called the spadix. The tiny greenish yellow flowers grow in a club shaped spike on the upper part of the stalk.

The "pulpit" is a leaf like growth which encloses the spadix like trumpet. This part, called the spathe, has a broad flap that extends up and over the spadix. It resembles the sounding board behind and over a pulpit.

The spathe is pale green, striped with purple and brownish lines.

The plant is also called Indian turnip and it is related to the marsh calls.