Our Earliest Wildflower
If you want to see Toronto's first sign of spring, then you have to brave the cold of early March and get out into the swamps! Your reward is a view of Skunk Cabbage, one of our most unusual and intriguing native plants.
By March, snow still on the frozen ground, the Skunk Cabbage has already started flowering. The tough spathes are poking out of the ground. Hidden inside each protective sheath is the spadix which is an unusual club-shaped structure embedded with tiny flowers.
The early emergence of the inflorescence is helped by heat produced by the spadix as it grows. This heat, which can raise the plant temperature 25°C above ambient, is created by a chemical reaction involving salicylic acid. The warming also helps disperse the pungent chemicals which attract pollinators such as flies and beetles.
Flowering is brief, and just as the flowers are dying back, the bright green foliage appears. Soon the formerly bare swamp area is transformed into a lush “cabbage” patch, with leaves reaching one metre high.
How do I identify Skunk Cabbage?
Where can I see them locally? Check the neighbourhood map of Skunk Cabbage hotspots.
References
- Katherine K. Thorington 2000. Pollination and Fruiting Success in the Eastern Skunk Cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus (L.) Salisb. ex Nutt. online article: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/mmcmenam/journal.html
- http://natureinstitute.org/pub/ic/ic4/skunkcabbage.htm
- Skunk Cabbage: Methusalehs of the plant world: http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring1999/skunkcabbage.html
- http://www.hopscotch.ca/tmwp/library/v1-2.html