6 
THE SKUNK CABBAGE 
Along the oozy margins of swampy streams, where 
spring seems to detach the sluggish ice from the 
softening mud, the Skunk Cabbage is boldly announc- 
ing nature's revival* Handsome, vigorous, and 
strong, richly coloured in purple, with delicate and 
sometimes obscure markings of yellow, it rises clean 
and unspotted from the weedy mud, a pointed, bulb- 
like flower as large as a lemon* Its twisted, oval 
contour and smooth - coloured surface suggest an 
overgrown shell* But its chief claim to recognition 
is its eagerness to greet the spring* In fact, it never 
waits for the reviving warmth, nor even for the 
inspiring spirit of the season of nature's renewal* In 
late autumn it rises from the black or mossy damp- 
ness to live safely under the snow and be first in 
spring's revival* The great, round bud sitting com- 
fortably on the thawing ooze or rising through the 
lifted ice is not only a promise of spring, but an 
assurance of nature's perpetual activity* 
The bulb -like flower is soon attended by an 
adjacent green cone, formed by a closely-folded leaf. 
But before the leaf develops, the handsome purple 
shell, which is thick and fleshy, withers and falls, 
