Jack (or Jill)-In-The-Pulpit

The common Alabama woodland plant jack-in-the-pulpit follows a complex sexual scenario known as sequential hermaphroditism in which an individual plant will "choose" to be either male or female depending on its reproductive potential.
(Photograph by L.J. Davenport)

Sex is never simple, nor without its costs. While the high costs of sexual reproduction--attracting a mate, transferring gametes, and supporting the offspring--are obvious in animal species (including humans), the same lessons can be learned from a common Alabama woodland plant, jack-in-the-pulpit.

Read More