VII 



MISCELLANEOUS 



SKUNK CABBAGE. SWAMP CABBAGE. 



Syniplocarpiis fcetidus. Arum Family. 



Leaves. — Large; becoming one or two feet long; heart-shaped, appear- 

 ing later than the purple-mottled spathe and hidden flowers. Flowers. — 

 Small and inconspicuous ; packed on the fleshy spike which is hidden within 

 the spathe. 



If we are bold enough to venture into certain swampy places 

 in the leafless woods and brown cheerless meadows of March, we 

 notice that the sharply pointed spathes of the skunk cabbage have 

 already pierced the surface of the earth. Until I chanced upon a 

 passage in Thoreau's Journal under date of October 31st, I had 

 supposed that these '* hermits of the bog " were only encouraged 

 to make their appearance by the advent of those first balmy, 

 spring-suggestive days which occasionally occur as early as 

 February. But it seems that many of these young buds had 

 pushed their way upward before the winter set in, for Thoreau 

 counsels those who are afflicted with the melancholy of autumn 

 to go to the swamps, *' and see the brave spears of skunk-cabbage 

 buds already advanced toward a new year." ''Mortal and hu- 

 man creatures must take a little respite in this fall of the year," 

 he writes. ''Their spirits do flag a little. There is a little 

 questioning of destiny, and thinking to go like cowards to where 

 the weary shall be at rest. But not so with the skunk cabbage. 

 Its withered leaves fall and are transfixed by a rising bud. 

 Winter and death are ignored. The circle of life is complete. 



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