TORREYA 



Vol. 19 No. 2 



February, 1919 



A BOTANICAL STUDY OF SKUNK CABBAGE, 

 SYMPLOCARPUS FOETIDUS 



By Katherine A. Williams 



The skunk cabbage is a plant of unusual interest and wide 

 distribution, and although its general growth and morphology 

 are pretty well understood, little has been done in an exact study 

 of the plant. A recent study of its western congener, Lysichiton 

 Kamtschatcensis, has emphasized the importance of a detailed 

 investigation of the eastern swamp plant. This study was begun 

 early in the spring of the present year (1918) with a view tomakiag 

 known some of the features of the plant which have not been 

 emphasized in previous descriptions of it. In the prosecution of 

 this research, I have been assisted by the helpful suggestions of 

 Prof. John W. Harshberger, under whose direction the work has 

 been prosecuted throughout. 



Phytophenology and Distribution 



Phytophenology . — The skunk cabbage is one of our earliest 

 forest plants, for records show it blooming even in the late fall, 

 or early winter. According to the records made by Dr. Marion 

 Mackenzie and presented before the Botanical Society of Penn- 

 sylvania, flowering specimens have been found as early as Novem- 

 ber twenty-first. Also when the year is backward for any reason, 

 the flowers have been even as late as March before opening. 

 The average date of first blooming seems to be about the middle 

 of January, as seen from the following table. This year the 

 flowering was somewhat later than usual. 



(No. I, Vol. 19 of ToRREYA, Comprising pp. 1-20, was issued 21 February 1919I 



21 



