Seeking Appalachia’s Strangest Flower
Eastern skunk cabbage is both a sign and smell that spring is on the way.
After searching for weeks, I finally found Appalachia’s
strangest wildflower.
It was my dog that led me to the maroon, green and yellow skunk cabbage
bloom. Just like the flies that pollinate it, he was drawn to the flower’s putrid rotting meat
smell.
What did I do upon finding it? A little dance. What did my dog do? He rolled on top
of it and then ate it.
Luckily for him, skunk cabbage grows in colonies, and, after a
scolding, he knew to leave the rest of the odd flowers for the flies.
These plants stumped a
Dear Naturalist reader this week and rightfully so.
Every year around this time, a
bunch of unusual plants grow in our backyard woods. They actually grow up through the snow… seem
to actually melt it. It is green and red, but if you open the petals, there is a yellow ball
inside. I think it could be related to a Venus Fly Trap. What is this plant? – Bob V., Deep
Gap
You are right in your observations, Bob. The eastern skunk cabbage in your backyard
does actually melt the snow as it grows. Because of this unique adaptation, it is one of the
earliest blooming wildflowers in our mountains.
The plant blooms perennially in colonies
near streams in cold regions. The large auburn and green hood-like section is called the “spathe.”
The flower is actually the large yellow spherical object inside the spathe.
As the
spathe grows up through the snow, it can generate its own heat. The heat is produced when the plant
oxidizes starches that it has stored in its rhizome over the winter.
The temperature
inside the spathe, where the flower is developing, is self-regulated by the plant. Typically, the
temperature inside will be at least 30 degrees warmer than the outside air.
When the spathe
is fully grown, it opens to reveal the odiferous flower. Why does it smell so bad? All potential
pollinators need to be awakened from their own winter’s rest. Let’s just say the best part of wakin’
up for these flies is not the smell of Folger’s coffee.
Skunk cabbage is also
unusual in that the first part of the plant to appear is the bloom. It isn’t until early May that
the leafy part of the plant will emerge.
A crushed leaf exudes a skunk-like odor, and
ingested leaf juice calls forth a strong inflammatory reaction in the mouth and esophagus of human
beings. Few creatures eat the leaves. For this and many other reasons, an individual plant can
survive for hundreds of years (as long as the ground where it lives stays moist).
It is not
closely related to the Venus Fly Trap. Instead, skunk cabbage is in the Arum family, along with
jack-in-the-pulpit and the tropical calla lily.
If you have a question concerning flora and fauna, please email (dearnaturalist@gmail.com) All of your questions will be answered. One or two will be featured next week. See you on the trails!
Amy Renfranz is an interpretive park guide on the Blue Ridge Parkway. She is a certified naturalist through the Yellowstone Institute and a certified environmental educator in the state of North Carolina. Her comments are made independently and do not reflect the views of the National Park Service.
