Download 47. Skunk Cabbage - Friess Lake School District

Common Name of Plant: Skunk Cabbage
Scientific Name of Plant: Symplocarpus foetidus
Average Height of Plant: 1 – 2 feet
Blooming Time: February to April
Ask the Botanist
What are the leaves like?
Some leaves are maroon. Some are mottled with patches or stripes of yellow and yellowgreen. These leaves form a spiral hood with a narrow opening on one side called a spathe. The
spathe holds and protects the flower.
Bright green leaves emerge after flowers with spathes appear. They unfold in a spiral pattern.
Leaves produce an unpleasant odor when crushed. The smell of leaves is how the skunk
cabbage got its name. Leaves begin to decay in mid-June. They get small holes in them, hang
down, and turn black and slimy. By July or August, leaves have ‘dissolved’.
What type of flowers bloom on this plant? What do the seedpods or seeds look like?
Many tiny, tightly packed flowers are located on a small, round, spongy flower head. They
have no petals. You can see the flower only by peeking inside the opening in the spathe. They
make a skunk-like odor that attracts flies and bees for pollination. Flowers produce heat.
Skunk cabbage is a perennial plant. Seeds germinate on the surface. By mid-June berry-like
fruit heads form. They are usually a deep wine color and contain one seed. In August the fruit
head falls apart. Fruit lies on the ground to be eaten, to decompose, or to germinate.
What is unusual about the stem or trunk?
A fully-grown skunk cabbage has a massive root system. It is almost impossible to dig it out.
Leaves grow out of a thick, round stem called a rootstock or rhizome. The roots pull the plant
deeper into the soil.
How is this plant important to animals? Has it also been used by people?
Skunk cabbage is an important early food source for bees, flies, and other insects. The heat
produced by flowers is also helpful to insects and spiders.
What location does this plant prefer?
Skunk cabbage grows in wet woods, marshes, and along streams in mucky, dense soil.
Pictures
Whole Plant
Leaf
From Wikipedia
Buds
Flowers
Seeds
Picture by Mike Baker
www.mikebaker.com
Stem or Tree Bark
William C. Taylor @ USDA-NRCS
PLANTS Database / USDA SCS. 1989.
Midwest wetland flora: Field office
illustrated guide to plant species. Midwest
National Technical Center, Lincoln, NE.