This month we gather for Pride parades and parties that showcase our communities in all their vibrancy. And although I love all these things, I like to celebrate by going for a walk because nature is exuberantly queer. As attacks on queer rights have intensified, you might have noticed that a common critique is that queerness is “unnatural.” But it’s really quite ordinary.
June is a delightful time to recognize queer life, thanks to all the beautiful biological activity unfurling around us in these weeks. Here in New York State, for example, we are transitioning into summer. You might still catch some of the ephemeral plants of spring, a number of which have queer reproductive strategies. One of my favorites is the jack-in-the-pulpit.
Follow me on our walk, deep into the shady woods, and perhaps you’ll see them. About a foot tall, they’re distinguished by their long spathe, a hood that curls up and over the flower. Would you guess that this one plant is not just a jack-in-the-pulpit but a jill-in-the-pulpit and a jack-and-jill-in-the pulpit? By which I mean that this single plant goes through phases during which it develops male flowers (having a stamen), and then both male and female structures (including a pistil), before finally becoming entirely female. This strategy helps the species maintain genetic diversity by maximizing an individual’s chances to mate with others.
Continue on your way, and maybe you’ll encounter trilliums, especially if you live farther upstate. You’ll recognize this ephemeral by its three bold leaves, most likely in shades of pink or purple or white. Like the jack-and-jill-in-the-pulpit, trilliums are intersex — a term used interchangeably with “bisexual” by botanists (despite their differing meanings for humans), leading to the rise of this plant as a symbol of human bisexuality. In an excellent example of mutualism, ants distribute the seeds of the trillium, first eating the fatty tissues attached to the seeds and then carrying those seeds to fertile plant nurseries, their colony’s nitrogen-rich waste-disposal areas.