Synonyms: Eastern Skunk Cabbage, Polecat-weed.
For many East Coast nature-lovers, Skunk Cabbage is a favorite harbinger of spring. It's always surprising how early this perennial herb arrives, often emerging in damp wooded areas even while surrounded by standing snow. Skunk Cabbage can do this because it is part of a small group of plants that literally raise their temperature higher than the surrounding air! The process is called thermogenesis, and it involves mitochondria generating heat as part of cellular respiration. The heat allows the plants to burst forth from still-frozen ground. It assists in the transmission of the plants' namesake fetid aroma, which attracts a suite of early emerging pollinators. The warmth itself then entices visitors to linger and to visit other Skunk Cabbage plants, further increasing the rate of pollination.
The plant arises from a thick, vertical rhizome. "The sheathing, shell-like spathe, mottled and varying from green to purplish-brown, envelops the heavy rounded spadix, on which are borne flowers containing both stamens and pistils. The broad leaves, which appear after the flowers, are at first coiled, later become very large and have a foetid odor when crushed"(Peterson and McKenny, 1996). Skunk Cabbage reproduces by reseeding itself rather than clonally through rhizomes.
Common throughout Maryland, in wet soil in woods and in open swamps.
According to Illinois Wildflowers website,"The flowers are pollinated by flesh flies (Sarcophagidae), carrion flies (Calliphoridae), and various gnats. These insects are attracted by the carrion-like appearance of the inflorescence and its unpleasant odor. The attractiveness of the flowers is enhanced by the increased temperature that is maintained within the spathe during the early spring. The caterpillars of Phragmatobia fuliginosa (Ruby Tiger Moth) feed on the foliage of this plant; this moth is polyphagous. Young larvae of Bellura obliqua (Cattail Borer Moth) typically mine the leaves of the plants that they infest, while older larvae bore into the crowns. Slugs and snails occasionally feed on the foliage of Skunk Cabbage. Spiders often lurk within the spathes to feed on insects that visit the flowers.
"The toxic foliage is inedible to most vertebrate herbivores because it contains crystals of calcium oxalate. However, after they emerge from hibernation during the spring, hungry Black Bears and Snapping Turtles occasionally eat the foliage, when little else is available."
There are 588 records in the project database.
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