The past few weeks I have been searching for patches of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). What exactly is skunk cabbage? The Gardening Know How website describes the plant in these words, “Skunk cabbage is a perennial wildflower that grows in swampy, wet areas of forest lands. This unusual plant sprouts very early in the spring, and has an odd chemistry that creates its own heat, often melting the snow around itself as it first sprouts in the spring.” In case you are curious, the plant gets its name from the fact that its leaves gives off a smell of skunk or rotting meat when they are crushed or bruised—I can’t personally vouch for that fact, but am willing to accept it at face-value.
So why am I looking for this curious plant that has already begun to sprout in my area? Several types of dragonflies, including the Arrowhead Spiketail dragonfly (Cordulegaster obliqua) that I featured last week, and the Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) can be found in the kind of forest seeps where skunk cabbage grows. The purpose of my recent trips to several parks has been to conduct advance reconnaissance of locations to explore when dragonfly season finally arrives.
For more information about skunk cabbage and how dragonflies are associated with this plant, check out this recent posting by Walter Sanford, my friend and fellow dragonfly enthusiast, with whom I have conducted some of these scouting expeditions.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
When I first started to visit the swamps down here I looked for Skunk Cabbage, eyes and nose. It’s just part of the wet lands. Not here. Maybe twice I have found it. Great shots…and yes strange, but good to see.
Nice Mike!And interesting info about the Skunk Cabbage & Dragonflies! Thanks,Reed
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this. It’s pretty.
At this stage in their development, they remind me very much of the beak of a squid, especially the second one!
I must confess, Gary, that I had no idea what a squid beak looked like and had to Google it. I can definitely see the resemblance.
Glad you are not out crushing leaves to test the skunk theory!!
If you step on them accidentally you’ll smell them. I’m glad you found some.
I remember skunk cabbage from my New Jersey childhood, and there’s a patch in the woods behind my neighborhood, part of Seneca Creek State Park. Nice pictures!
Thanks, Nina. I am always fascinated by what others remember of their childhood.
Your posts are so intriguing!