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| What's in Bloom? |
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FEBRUARY
Symplocarpus foetidus - Skunk cabbage
Even when spring seems so far away, the early flowers of skunk-cabbage can be found flourishing in February and March. Araceae (Arum family) flowers such as skunk-cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit and wild calla have distinctive inflorescences: tiny flowers on a fleshy spike, or spadix, which are surrounded by an often colorful spathe, or hood. Skunk-cabbage has peculiar ways of attracting pollinators with this structure. The purplish-maroon color and foul scent mimic carrion, which attracts flies, a pollinating tactic also adapted by red trillium and wild ginger. Flies are attracted to the microclimate of heat given off by the plant’s high metabolism, which also melts snow around the emerging red hoods. Skunk-cabbage is more showy during the summer when its bright green leaves, up to 2-feet wide, emerge in areas of deciduous shade and wet, muddy soil. The plant goes dormant in mid-summer, dying back until the blooms of next winter melt through the snow. Watch for the waxy, maroon "flowers" of skunk-cabbage in late winter near the Pond and on the Marsh Marigold Trail.
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