Can someone help me identify this plant? I don't really know where to start. I don't know much about plant ID, and I thought this plant was very interesting with how 2 of the leaves are so deeply lobed. This plant was growing in a small patch of mature bottomland hardwoods, in northwest Alabama. I think I took the pictures back in May or early June. Hopefully you can see the pictures ok, they were taken with my cell phone. I am sure some of you guys will know it. Thanks for the help, and thank you to the guys who take the time to make the tutorial posts, they are very interesting and helpful. Trent

i've never seen that particular plant up here in my neck of the woods,,,,,,i have no idea.

does it appear to be a vine

No, it isn't a vine or a woody plant. I guess it would be a forb. Also, all of the plants were from 6-10 inches tall, and the leaves were 5-7 inches wide. Hopefully someone will recognize it. Thanks to those who have replied.

See it all the time but don't know what it is, good luck, stan

can you get a pic of the stem and root ?.
the leaves APPEAR to have the texture of something from the indian turnip family.

Yes, I will get more pictures. But I can't get them until this weekend when I head home. I will post them up as soon as I can. Thank you for your interest. When I google the term "indian turnip", it comes up with a plant called jack in the pulpit. Are you thinking that this is what my plant is, or something else that is related to it? I agree, the leaves do look similar.

That is not jack in the pulpit. It also is not Indian turnip or green dragon or any plant in the arum family.

don, i was wondering if it might not be some species of the indian turnip family due to the texture of the leaves..........it appears to have that kind of " look" to it.

if you look at the indian turnip and the dragon plant the leaves have a similliar texture.............i'm just wondering if the root on this is a bulb as well.

They look more like a wild poinsetta to me. Like you said, it would have to have a bulb root on it and it looks to have to much greenery for a bulb root to be a member of the arum family. Next test if it does have a bulb root is to do the old taste test on it.
It will be kind of interesting to find out if we can. I think a lot better picture would help greatly and even then, we may never know.
Foxkidd a lot of things that come from the south confuse me. I will also be the first to admit, that I don't know all the plant species. Matter of fact, the older I get, the harder it is to spit out the name instantly. Heck sometimes I have to stop and think what the names of common plants are anymore. I guess it all comes with the hair turning gray.
Thanks for your input foxkidd.

Here are more pictures which will hopefully help with the ID. The stems are very soft and moist, and the root seems to be a bulb like you were wondering. The picture of the plant with three leaves is just a young plant of the same species--it seemed like these plants didn't develop the deep lobing until they were larger. See what you think.

tad, i ran across this website........don't know if it will help or not.


http://alabamaplants.com/species_list.html

if you click on each plant in the list, it will show you a color pic of that particular plant.

yours may or may not be in there.

i simply don't have the time to look at each one.

as i suspected though.......it has a bulb for a root.........i really think it's related to indian turnips and green dragons.

Foxkidd now that I see the tops a lot better, I would also say that that plant is related to Green dragon and Jack in the pulpit. They really have a close resemblance to young Green Dragon. Foxkidd you sure made more out of those pictures in the early pictures, more than I did. If you have the Gonads to take a small piece of that root and chew it for a few seconds, it would imediatly tell you if it is green dragon or jack. Your mouth will feel like somebody gave you a thousand little pins to chew on. Don't swallow the dang stuff cause then, your throat will feel like a thousand pins are sticking in your throat. I don't think the stuff will harm you other than the terrible feeling your going to get by chewing on it. I have done it and I know several other people that have chewed it, to there regret afterwards. I had a fella come into my shop the year before last. He was selling me Ginseng and I had about 30 lbs. of green dragon all sliced and cut up laying out drying. The man asked me what it was and I told him what the deal was and not to put any in his mouth. Well he thought i was pulling his leg, because the next thing i know the fella was asking for something to drink and he needed it real fast. Iknew what he had did and i asked him if he put some in his mouth. He said yes and then I gave him the bad news. Told him if he drank anything in the next few minutes it would make his throat feel like a thousand pins was sticking him. Well nothing have it but he told his wife to go to the truck and get him a coke. Well you know the rest of the srory.,

i too sampled a indian turnip......when i was around 13 my curiosity got the best of me......i dug one up, wiped it off with my shirt, and took a bite.

it was good,,,,,,,at first................then my regrets started....................it was almost like i bit into a book of flaming matches.

i've heard that dry turnips won't do it.......the chemicals are gone......i havn't had the guts to try it again...lol.

Thanks again for the replies guys. I will check out that link foxkidd, but I didn't expect you too. I just posted to see if anyone knew it before I tried looking it up. I will try to research it further myself, and try to let you know what I find out. Thank you all again for the help, Trent

The plants appear to be Five-leaved Jack-in-the-pulpit, A.K.A. Five-leaved Indian turnip (Arisaema triphyllum ssp. quinatum). It's an uncommon sub-species of Jack-in-the-pulpit found in the S.E. states. Here is a link with more info:
http://uswildflowers.com/detail.php?SName=Arisaema%20triphyllum%20ssp.%20quinatum

Your plants are unusual in that the divisions of the lateral leaves are very small. It's an attractive plant. If it produces flowers it would make a nice addition to a wildflower garden. I'll send the link to this post to Tony Avent at Plant Delights Nursery in N. Carolina. He is always on the lookout for unusual plant varieties that could be marketable.

I'd also like to try growing it in my garden. I'll send you a PM.

Looks like what you have pictured. Good job fellas.