Skunk Cabbage

Skunk cabbage grows in wetlands in eastern North America. It gets it name from the smell given off when a leaf is bruised. It’s the first plant to bloom in the spring(Feb. or more often March). It can generate its own heat to melt the snow around it. Foul smell is to attract flies for pollination. Forms large colonies of plants. Plants can live for 20 years.Skunk cabbage has medium toxicity to humans as it contains calcium oxalates in its raw form. Plant grows deeper into the mud, so in effect it grows downwards as it grows older. It is nearly nearly impossible to remove the roots of older plants. This is often the first plant that bears eat out of the den (the roots in particular).