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• Orchids and related plants
• Irises, lilies, and other "monocots"
• Symplocarpus foetidus

Symplocarpus foetidus — skunk-cabbage

Facts

Skunk-cabbage is one of the earliest widlflowers to bloom in the spring. It is so named due to the unpleasant smell given off by all its tissues. The plant has a heat-producing (thermogenic) inflorescence (spadix). The combination of smell and heat attract flies and other insects that are typically attracted to carrion, and are the presumed pollinators. The plant was widely used by Native Americans to treat medical conditions ranging from epilepsy to swelling.

Habitat

Floodplain (river or stream floodplains), shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Axillary bulblets

  there are no bulblets being produced in axils

• Flowers

  Anther attachment

  the anther is attached by its base to the filament

  Bulblets replace flowers

  there are no bulblets where the flowers are located

  Carpels fused

  NA

  Flower bract length

  0 mm

  Flower bracts

  there are no bracts associated with the flower

  Flower number

  3–900

  Flower petal color

  • blue to purple
  • pink to red
  • yellow

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Form of style

  the style is knob-like at the tip, and unbranched

  Fringed petal edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Hairs on flower stalk

  NA

  Inflorescence hair glands

  the axis of the inflorescence has no hairs on it

  Inflorescence length

  20–30 mm

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence differs from the choices given
  • the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Inflorescence width

  15–30 mm

  Length of flower stalk

  0 mm

  Marks on petals

  there are no noticeable marks on the petals

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  1

  Number of pistils

  1

  Number of sepals and/or petals

  there are four petals, sepals or tepals in the flower

  Number of styles

  1

  Ovary position

  the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes only one cycle of petals or sepals

  Petal appearance

  the petals are green and/or leafy in texture

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble leaves in color and texture

  Spathe

  the plant has a spathe surrounding the flower spike

  Spathe form

  the spathe encloses or nearly encloses the spike of flowers

  Spathe length

  60–180 mm

  Stamen number

  4

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

  Stamens fused outwards

  the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

  Style petal-like

  the style is not broad and flattened like a petal

  Tepals

  the petals and sepals are similar in size and color

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  • brown
  • green
  • purple
  • red

  Capsule ridges

  NA

  Fruit cross-section

  the fruit is at least somewhat flattened

  Fruit stalk orientation

  NA

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is fleshy

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)

  Other markings on berry

  the ripe fruits are mostly one color without spots or streaks

• Glands or sap

  Sap

  the sap is milky and opaque, and may be white or colored

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Underground organs

  • the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)
  • there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  basal: the leaves are growing only at the base of the plant

  Leaf blade basal lobes

  • the leaf blades are lobed at their bases
  • the leaf blades do not have basal lobes

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf has a distinct leaf stalk (petiole)

  Leaf blade base shape

  • The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes) or sagittate (arrow-shaped, with pointed, backward-facing lobes)
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf blade has no noticeable waxy or powdery bloom

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section

  Leaf blade faces

  both surfaces of the leaf blade are exposed

  Leaf blade form

  Fully-formed (i.e., expanded), +/- green leaf blades are found somewhere on the plant

  Leaf blade length

  100–600 mm

  Leaf blade orientation

  the upper surface of the leaf blade faces the stem of the plant

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade surface colors

  the upper side of the leaf blade is relatively uniform in color

  Leaf blade tip

  • the tip of the leaf blade is acute (sharply pointed)
  • the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins are palmate, (and do not arch towards the leaf tip) or pinnate

  Leaf blade width

  70–400 mm

  Leaf stalk length

  50–570 mm

  Leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Leaflet number

  0

  Stipule twining

  NA

  Stipules

  there are no stipules on this plant

• Place

  Habitat

  wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • edges of wetlands
  • river or stream floodplains
  • shores of rivers or lakes
  • swamps

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the leaves smell like rotten meat or some other bad smell

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem is held upright

  Flowering stem leaves

  there are no true leaves on the flowering stem

  Stem hairs

  NA

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae