LYSICHITON CAMTSCHATCENSE (L) SCHOTT, AND ITS 
BEHAVIOR IN SPHAGNUM BOGS 
GOTE TURESSON 
Lysichiton camtschatcense or the western skunk cabbage can un- 
doubtedly lay claim to greater notoriety than any other herb of the 
Puget Sound region and the Vancouver strip. Being the only local 
representative of the aroids and endowed with characteristics strik- 
ingly aroidal in nature, it naturally arouses the curiosity of the botanist 
as well as of the layman. In early spring before other plants show 
sign of life the pale yellowish color of its peculiar spadix and spathe 
give life to the dull color of the dormant vegetation. The pleasure, 
however, is universely proportional to the nearness of the plant. 
Similar to its eastern congener, the western skunk cabbage enjoys by 
right the reputation of emitting a stench, comparable in nauseousness 
to that of a skunk's secretion. Although it is difficult to designate 
the exact "shading" of the smell, it is an illustrative example of what 
Kerner (14) in his odor scheme called indoloid. The intensity of the 
smell is greatest during the period of flowering, and thousands of 
Staphylinids and carrion flies swarm at this time around the swamps 
and marshes, attracted by the pungent odor of the skunk cabbage. 
Later in the season it again attracts the attention by the gigantic 
size of its leaves, in this region surpassing one meter in length and 
half a meter in width. 
Being typically a plant of swampy places, stream margins and 
ditches, Lysichiton camtschatcense is sometimes found growing in sphag- 
num bogs under very peculiar circumstances. The clue which Ly- 
sichiton camtschatcense gives to the interpretation of the physiographic 
history of one of these bogs will be dealt with below. However, 
before taking up for discussion the role it plays in the past and present 
history of the bog, it becomes necessary to consider shortly some of 
its more typical habitats. 
The plant societies in which Lysichiton is more or less conspicuous 
can be grouped in two series: the river series and the pond-swamp 
series (Cowles, 6). We find Lysichiton present already in the initial 
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