Arisaema - Cobra Lily

Arisaema is a genus of about 150 species in the flowering plant family Araceae, native to eastern and central Africa, Asia and eastern North America. Its species are often called Cobra lilies, particularly the Asiatic species. Another species Arisaema tortuosum is found in the Western Ghats and northern parts of India. This is commonly called whipcord cobra lily and by many other names in the Indian subcontinent.

One unusual trait shared by all Arisaema species, and not those of other genera, is the sex change. Arisaema plants are typically male when small, and female or hermaphraditic when large, with a single plant capable of changing sex based on nutrition and genetics, and perhaps changing sex several times during its long life (20 years or more).