Week One:

Skunk cabbage
(Symplocarpus foetidus)

This wildflower is best viewed at Pine Hill.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage

Skunk Cabbage heralding spring

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Alismatales Family: Araceae Genus: Symplocarpus Species: S. foetidus

Binomial name

Symplocarpus foetidus Salisb.

 

The leaves are large, 40-55 cm long and 30-40 cm broad. It flowers early in the year; the flowers are produced in a 5-10 cm long spadix contained within a spathe, 10-15 cm tall and mottled purple in colour. It flowers in the early spring, when only the flowers are visible above the mud, with the stems buried below and the leaves emerging later. The rhizome is often 30 cm thick.

Ecology

Breaking or tearing a leaf produces a pungent odor. This property lends itself to the 'skunk' in the common name. While not considered edible, the plant is not poisonous to the touch. Though unpleasant, the smell is not harmful. 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.

Skunk cabbage is notable for its ability to produce heat of up to 15-35° C above air temperature by cyanide resistant cellular respiration in order to melt its way through frozen ground,^[2] placing it among a small group of plants exhibiting thermogenesis. Although flowering whilst 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.^[2] 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.^[3]

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.

Symplocarpus foetidus leafs out later in the summer

Uses

In the 19th century the U. S. Pharmacopoeia listed eastern skunk cabbage as the drug "dracontium". It was used in the treatment of respiratory diseases, nervous disorders, rheumatism, and dropsy. In North America and Europe, skunk cabbage is occasionally cultivated in water gardens.^[4] Skunk cabbage was used extensively as a medicinal plant, seasoning, and magical talisman by various tribes of Native Americans.^[5]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Version 1.2, November 2002

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 Mission Statement of the Ashland County Park District

 

   The mission of the Ashland County Park District is to conserve natural areas of, forest , woodland, farm, and fields for the enjoyment of the people and to promote multiple uses for these area, including: hiking, walking, biking, hunting, fishing, bird watching and other outdoor pursuits. The district shall, as part of this Mission, enhance opportunities for the people to study nature and their rural agricultural heritage. 

 

  The Goals of the Park District are:

1) Protect areas of unique natural or historical significance.

2) Organize, promote, publish and operate educational programs pertinent to nature, resource conservation, crafts, skills and sport that form our historical heritage.

3) Create a center for the study of nature and our rural agricultural heritage.

4) Receive, manage or own land to accomplish this mission.