ARUM FAMILY 



ARACEAE 



SKUNK CABBAGE 



Symplocarpiis foetidus (L.) Nutt. 



Skunk Cabbage is found throughout the northern half of 

 Illinois in swamps and other low places that are moist throughout 

 the year. It occurs in similar situations from Nova Scotia south 



to North Carolina and 

 westward to Ontario, 

 Minnesota and Iowa. 



This is . our earliest 

 flowering plant. It usu- 

 ally begins to bloom in 

 late February or early 

 March, but may be found 

 in bloom any time during 

 very mild winters. The 

 first part of the plant to 

 appear is the hoodlike 

 spathe, variously spotted 

 and streaked with purple 

 and yellowish green. 

 Within this spathe the 

 flowers are clustered on a 

 fleshy spadix. Each flower 

 has 4 fleshy sepals, 4 stamens and an angular pistil with a small 

 stigma. The flowers at the top of the spadix open first, and the 

 pistil of each matures several days before the stamens of the 

 same flower begin to discharge their pollen. After the blooming 

 season the plant develops a cluster of cabbagelike leaves around 

 the enlarged spadix, and the seeds embedded in the spadix 

 mature in late summer. 



The odor of the Skunk Cabbage, though unpleasant to man, 

 is attractive to many insects, especially bees and flies. During 

 the early part of the season honeybees are the chief agents of 

 pollination, but later numerous small flies carry on this work. 



You have robbed the bee, South Wind, in jour adventure, 

 Blustering with gentle flowers; but I forgave you 

 When you stole to me shyly with scent of hawthorn. 



South ff'ind — Siegfried Sassoon 



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