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, 
