Skunk Cabbage -Symplocarpus foetidus
Pungently malodorous and possessing only modest beauty, skunk cabbage offers its quirky blooms in winter when there is little else to attract the attention of devoted wildflower enthusiasts. Skunk cabbage is a member of the arum family.
Skunk cabbage is an obligate wetland plant. It grows in the muck soils of wet meadows and swampy woods, extending to regions of shallow water or upward along the lower reaches of adjacent hillsides, presumably where its roots can still reach the water table. As noted above, it flowers in winter (commonly in January), a phenomenon permitted, in part, by the fact that the plant is thermogenic (generates significant metabolic heat, a rare phenomenon in plant biology).
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Go to All Wildflowers of the Year.
Selection Procedure
- Nomination
- Any member of VNPS may nominate a species for consideration.
- Selection
- All nominations become candidates for selection. The Board of Directors votes on the candidates, and the species receiving the largest number of votes is selected.
- Criteria
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- Must be a plant native to Virginia.
- Most not be an invasive, a pest, or an obnoxious weed.
- Should stimulate interest in membership and among the public because of its attractive, showy, colorful, or unique flower or other attributes. Must be interesting because of habitat, historical role, abundance or rarity, ecological niche, or other feature.
- May be either common or rare in Virginia.
- Need not be of horticultural interest, but this could be a "plus".
- Selected plant ideally should tie in with VNPS emphasis on habitat (e.g., marshlands, rock outcroppings, disturbed areas).
The VNPS Botany Chair oversees the selection process and prepares the text for the brochure.