Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage[4] or eastern skunk cabbage (also swamp cabbage, clumpfoot cabbage, or meadow cabbage, foetid pothos or polecat weed), is a low growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of eastern North America. Bruised leaves present an odor reminiscent of skunk.

Eastern skunk cabbage
Skunk cabbage in early spring
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Secure  (NatureServe)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Alismatales
Family:	Araceae
Genus:	Symplocarpus
Species:	S. foetidus
Binomial name
Symplocarpus foetidus Salisb.
Synonyms[3]
Dracontium foetidum L. Spathyema foetida (L.)Raf. Pothos foetidus (L.) Aiton Ictodes foetidus (L.) Bigelow Pothos putorii Barton Spathyema angusta Raf. Spathyema lanceolata Raf. Spathyema latifolia Raf. Symplocarpus foetidus f. variegatus Otsuka

Description

Growing from a rhizome which is often 30 cm (1 ft) thick, the plant produces large leaves, each 40–55 cm (16–22 in) long and 30–40 cm (12–16 in) wide. It flowers early in the spring when only the flowers are visible above the mud. The stems^{[clarification needed]} remain buried below the surface of the soil with the leaves emerging later. The flowers are produced on a 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long spadix contained within a spathe, 10–15 cm (4–6 in) tall and mottled purple in colour.[5]

Distribution and habitat

The eastern skunk cabbage is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia and southern Quebec west to Minnesota, and south to North Carolina and Tennessee. It is protected as endangered in Tennessee.[4] Its habitats include stream banks, wet woodlands, and wet areas such as swamps.[5]

Ecology

Breaking or tearing a leaf produces a pungent but harmless odor, the source of the plant's common name; it is also foul smelling when it blooms. The plant is not poisonous to the touch. The foul odor attracts its pollinators: scavenging flies, stoneflies, and bees. The odor in the leaves may also serve to discourage large animals from disturbing or damaging this plant, which grows in soft wetland soils.

Eastern skunk cabbage is notable for its ability to generate temperatures of up to 15–35 °C (59–95 °F) above air temperature by cyanide resistant cellular respiration in order to melt its way through frozen ground,[6] placing it among a small group of thermogenic plants. Even though it flowers while there is still snow and ice on the ground, it is successfully pollinated by early insects that also emerge at this time. Some studies suggest that beyond allowing the plant to grow in icy soil, the heat it produces may help to spread its odor in the air.[6] Carrion-feeding insects that are attracted by the scent may be doubly encouraged to enter the spathe because it is warmer than the surrounding air, fueling pollination.[7][8]

Eastern skunk cabbage has contractile roots which contract after growing into the earth. This pulls the stem of the plant deeper into the mud, so that the plant in effect grows downward, not upward. Each year, the plant grows deeper into the earth, so that older plants are practically impossible to dig up. They reproduce by hard, pea-sized seeds which fall in the mud and are carried away by animals or by floods.^{[citation needed]}

Some blowflies, such as Calliphora vomitoria are known pollinators of skunk cabbage.

Uses

In the 19th century the U.S. Pharmacopoeia listed eastern skunk cabbage as the drug "dracontium".^{[citation needed]} It was used in the treatment of respiratory diseases, nervous disorders, rheumatism, and dropsy.^{[citation needed]} In North America and Europe, skunk cabbage is occasionally cultivated in water gardens.[9] Skunk cabbage was used extensively as a medicinal plant, seasoning, and magical talisman by various tribes of Native Americans.[10] The thoroughly dried young leaves are quite good reconstituted in soups or stews. The thoroughly dried rootstocks can be made into a pleasant cocoa-like flour.^{[citation needed]}

Toxicity

Skunk cabbage often contains calcium oxalate crystals, and therefore the plant is considered to have medium toxicity to humans. The toxicity may be removed through careful preparation.[11]^{[failed verification]}

Gallery

• 
  Eastern skunk cabbage melting a hole through the snow.
• 
  A cut-away view of the spadix (flower cluster) inside the spathe of the skunk cabbage.
• 
  Early spring growth of eastern skunk cabbage along a flowing brook on the island of Martha's Vineyard
• 
  Skunk cabbage leaves and blooming marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris) in a wooded marsh
• 
  Skunk cabbage emerging from ground during winter
• 
  Thermal imaging of a newly emerged eastern skunk cabbage showing heat, via thermogenesis, in the spadix

See also

• Lysichiton americanus (western skunk cabbage): also known for producing a foul smell, and often confused with eastern skunk cabbage
• Lysichiton camtschatcensis (Asian skunk cabbage): from north-east Asia, but not known for producing a foul smell

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Symplocarpus foetidus.

• Connecticut Botanical Society: Symplocarpus foetidus
• Illinois Wildflowers: Symplocarpus foetidus
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Symplocarpus foetidus
• Minnesota Wildflowers: Symplocarpus foetidus
• Plants For A Future: Symplocarpus foetidus
• Ito-Inaba, Yasuko; Sato, Mayuko; Masuko, Hiromi; Hida, Yamato; Toyooka, Kiminori; Watanabe, Masao; Inaba, Takehito (2009). "Developmental changes and organelle biogenesis in the reproductive organs of thermogenic skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus renifolius)". Journal of Experimental Botany. 60 (13): 3909–3922. doi:10.1093/jxb/erp226. PMC 2736897. PMID 19640927.