Skunk
Cabbage Habitat: Wetlands and seeps Form: Herb Flower: Strange flower--the actual small yellow flowers are scattered over a spherical spadix inside a mottled red and tan spathe hood. Family: Araceae Foliage: The leaves are large, approximately a foot tall, and palmate, and have a rank odor when crushed. Notes
and uses: Skunk cabbages
are able to generate heat to melt the snow around them when they
first appear in the spring, as early as February in Michigan. This
allows insect pollinators attracted by the odor and rotten-meat
appearance of the hood to pollinate them while other plants are
still dormant. |
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Great
Lakes Boreal Flora |
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Skunk
Cabbage