Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

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Eastern Skunk Cabbage is a perennial wetland woodland plant native to Canada and the United States. It is one of the earliest plants to come out in the springtime, or should I say, the wintertime, because it can come out as early as late February into March. Many times, this plant can come out through the ice and snow since this plant has the ability of thermogenesis. This plant produces heat from its rapid growth to melt off snow and ice. This plant is of interest because it sends its flowers out first instead of its leaves, and the unattractive flowers smell of skunk and carrion to attract the season's first pollinators.