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Questions and Answers: 2025

Question: Hi! I have a spot that I have been visiting for several years. (Central VT by the white river) There …

• Question

  Hi! I have a spot that I have been visiting for several years. (Central VT by the white river) There was the largest jack in the pulpit ever. Its leaves were bigger than my hands. It made berries the past two years . This year- no sight of it! I was devastated. There are tiny ones but I guess I want to know if it was just old and died? What happens to old plants? Do they get smaller? Do they disappear? I’d expect to see some leaves of a comparable size by now since many are blooming.

  Answer

  Dear monsoonkid, the variety of life spans and strategies used to perennate by plants is extensive. Further, many plants can remain dormant in some seasons, persisting as underground storage organs. The plant you observed may not have died, but simply is "resting", if you will. I would encourage you to look for it again over the coming growing seasons. It may well return.