Skunk Cabbage: A Harbinger of Spring

BY: ANITA C. WRIGHT, GROUP FOR THE EAST END ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Skunk cabbage spathe

Along with the return of red-winged black birds, the chorus of spring peepers, and the lengthening daylight hours, the emergence of Eastern skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, reminds me that spring is here!

The first part of skunk cabbage to pop from the earth is called the spathe, which is brownish-purple and sometimes streaked with yellow. Inside the spathe is a cluster of yellow flowers. Skunk cabbage can sometimes be seen pushing up through snow and ice because of its ability to produce heat by using enzymes and oxygen to break down stored carbohydrates. The temperature inside the spathe can be maintained at 20-50 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. In a sense, the plant thermoregulates, much like mammals do!

The flowers also produce a foul smell, often compared to the “skunky” smell of rotting flesh. Although this may not remind humans of the sweet smell of spring, the inside of the spathe is a warm, welcome attraction for the first pollinating flies and other insects of the forest ecosystem in late winter and early spring. 

After pollination, the flower forms a brownish-purple fruit head, and the spathe withers away. Bright green leaves now grow around the fruit head, and when crushed, the leaves emit the same foul smell as the flowers did. The fruit of skunk cabbage is an important food source for many birds, including wood ducks and pheasants. The leaves, on the other hand, are toxic to most herbivores. 

It might be a good time to head out to Big Reed Pond in Montauk and walk the Blue Trail, a beautiful loop that winds through low lying red maple swamps. These wetlands are perfect habitat for skunk cabbage, a true harbinger of early spring.