Episode 36: Fillet of Fenny Snake

botanical illustration of Jack in the pulpit

Hello and welcome back to another week of rooted! This week we are continuing our deep dive into the potion ingredients of macbeth with another famous favorite- Fillet of Fenny Snake.

If you thought this was yet another instance of reptile rapture, you aren’t alone. But, I am happy to report that witches of the time weren’t thinly slicing snakes to toss into their cauldrons. Instead, they were turning to a quirky flower that- if you live anywhere in the eastern half of the united states, or any dark and gloomy bits of europe, you’ve likely heard of- Jack in the pulpit!

Jack in the pulpit, or Arisaema triphyllum is a very distinct wildflower native to eastern north america. It’s a member of the aracea or lilly family, with familial favorites like Arrow leaf, snake lilly, and philodendrons!

There are a few different varieties of jack in the pulpit, so they may look a little different from region to region, but for our purposes today we are going to lump them all together since they are all extremely similar!

These wildflowers are characterized by their very distinct flower that looks kind of like a pitcher plant- they have a light green to deep purple spadix with very distinctive stripes, and the spadix folds over itself creating an almost hood like effect. The flower inside (also called the jack) is just like any other lilly flower. These flowers are typically either male or female, but just like we learned in Jurassic park- nature will always find a way! They can actually change sex based on what seeds successfully took and what other jack’s managed to pop back up. And since these are extremely long lived perennials (typically living about 25 years) It’s possible for them to change several times over the course of their lives.

You can actually tell which flowers are male or female by looking at the base of the flowers- the male flowers (the ones that produce pollen) emit a sort of mushroomy/rotting smell to attract flies, and will have a hole at the base- allowing pollinators to wriggle around in there and get covered in pollen before zipping off to another flower, while female blooms will NOT have holes- encouraging flies and gnats to stay a while and have a look around before heading out the way they came in, or getting so lost they never leave…

These guys will typically get about 1-2 feet tall, and really don’t like the sun. They prefer to stay in well shaded areas with rich soil, and plenty of moisture, which is why you’ll typically only stumble upon them in the woods! They bloom from april to about june, then start a magnificent transition- their hooded spadix gives way to the flower, which is now covered with a dense cluster of tiny red berries - a tasty treat for any wildlike who might be looking for a quick snack before winter!

Each berry contains 3-5 tiny seeds, which are what I saw most commonly being mentioned as the potion ingredient, though there are PLENTY of uses for pretty much every part of this plant.

It’s likely that Jack-in-the-pulpit, or really any plant in the arum family could have been what the witches were referring to when they reference “Filet of Fenny Snake” because fenny was a term that meant “Marsh or bog” and many of the members of the arum family have names like “Snake lilly” or Snake root” and tend to grow in swampy or marshy areas where the soil is moist and fertile.

In potions and spells it’s normally used to celebrate duality, and help to provide guidance or wisdom, aiding in self discovery and spiritual growth.

But outside of spiritualism, many native american cultures have turned to Jack in the pulpit as food, medicine, and even poison.

As a food, Jack in the pulpit root was often blanched to remove some of the very toxic calcium oxalate crystals that are contained all over in the plant. Once the root has been cooked to remove and neutralize some of those crystals, it was dried, then cut thinly and eaten like a potato chip.

As a medicine, Jack-in-the-pulpit was commonly used to help treat anything from sore eyes to snakebites, while also helping to reduce inflammation and as an expectorant- though not enough research has been done to know exactly how it works, and obviously this kind of medical practice is best left to those from the culture who have studied this plant, and know the proper methods and dosages to administer it safely.

Just as Jack in the pulpit celebrates the duality of nature in its ability to change sexes, it can also celebrate the duality between life and death, as it was also historically used as a poison by the meskwaki (mess squak kee) people of the great lakes region - what is now Wisconsin through Iowa. They are also sometimes called the Fox, but that name was given to them by French colonizers who pushed them from Ontario and misunderstood that their chief’s name was fox- not the nation…

Anyway, the Meskwaki people turned to Jack-in-the-pulpit to help them in times of war, since it was fairly easy to come by, and blended pretty seamlessly into the dishes they made- making it hard to detect the poison before it was too late. They would cut the root, but instead of blanching it to neutralize the calcium oxalate crystals, they would just toss it in with some meat, and leave it in a big pot for their enemy to find…believing they had scored a free meal, the enemy would scarf down their supper without noticing anything was amiss… that was until the spiky oxalate crystals hit their system- causing gastrointestinal distress, vomiting, diarrhea, and potentially death depending on how much was consumed.

Interestingly, Jack-in-the-pulpit seeds were also used as a way to determine someones fate or see the future- mostly as it pertained to whether they would live or die. Seeds were placed in a bowl of water and swirled around, and the way they settled could then be read by someone who knew what they were looking at- kind of like tea leaves, but with a hyperfocus on mortality.

Aside from food and fortune telling, jack in the pulpit also played an interesting role in fashion. When early colonizers from england first arrived, they quickly realized they didn’t have anything to starch their collars with, and that was a problem because they really didn’t want to look silly with floppy collars..so, they quickly realized that Jack-in-the-pulpit’s roots and corm (the underground bits that allow it to spread) contained plenty of starch that they could leach out and use to keep their collars stiff and uncomfortable.

Today, Jack-in-the-pulpit isn’t used in much, but it continues to play a vitally important role as a wildflower and food source in it’s native regions, where it is all too often being choked out my invasive plants like garlic mustard, honeysuckle, and other noxious weeds.

If you’re lucky enough to live in an area where these guys grow, keep your eyes peeled next time your in a shady part of the forest- you might be surprised to stumble upon of a patch of them you never would have noticed! And when you do, take a moment to stop, say hello, and appreciate how many unique and diverse wild flowers can exist so close to each other.

That’s all I’ve got for this week, but I’ll be back soon with another plant-y potion ingredient to dissect with you!

Source:

Episode 36: Popped Collars & Fillet of Fenny Snake- Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Episode 37: Cauldron Conundrums: Toe of Frog & Wool of Bat- Bulbous Buttercup & Ordinary Moss

Episode 35: Macbeth's Medley & Eye of Newt- Mustard