3i6 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



thing but individual variations such as occur in Sagittaria and 

 other similar plants. 



Fl. — Early June to late June. 



Middle District. — Farmingdale, New Egypt, Birmingham, Pensauken (S), 

 Sicklerville (S), Camden (P). 

 Pine Barrens. — Folsom, Pancoast (S), Forks of Batsto. 

 Coast Strip. — Toms River (NB), Forked River, Manahawkin. 

 Cape May.— Goshen (S), Court House (S), Bennett. 



SPATHYEMA Rafinesque. 



Spathyema foetida (L.). Skunk Cabbage. 



PL XXIX., Fig. 2; PI. XXX. 



DracOntitini faHidum Linnsus, Sp. PI. 967. 1753 [Virginia]. 

 Sytihplocarpus foetidus Knieskern 30. — Willis 58. — Britton 254. 



Frecjuent in swampy ground, especially in woods, throughout 

 the Northern, Middle and Cape May districts. 



As early as February we may find the maroon spathes of the 

 Skunk Cabbage pushing" their noses out of the mud in some 

 springhead where the ground is not deeply frozen, sometimes 

 uniformly colored, sometimes streaked with yellowish green, and 

 if we look inside we shall probably find a dust of pollen on the 

 bottom of the chamber, showing that the plant is truly in bloom. 

 It will be some weeks before the leaves begin to show themselves, 

 and by that time the spathes will be pretty well withered or de- 

 composed. Most plants that bloom very early make serious 

 preparation the autumn before, and if we dig up a Skunk Cab- 

 bage plant and slit open the base so as to expose the flower bud, 

 we shall find everything in readiness long before winter sets in. 

 A specimen in miy collection fromi Medford, collected October 6, 

 shows the spathe characteristically colored and already four 

 inches high, with spadix half an inch in diameter and flowers 

 fully formed. 



The Skunk Cabbage is not found in the Pine Barrens, though 

 inasmuch as the boundary line is irregular, with interlacing arms, 

 there is a narrow strip wherein plants of West Jersey and the 

 Pines grow side by side, which has given rise to the few Pine 

 Barren records. In the Cape May peninsula it reappears, but is 

 apparently absent from the coast strip, as diligent search has 

 failed to detect it between Cape May Court House and Bay Head. 



