Skunk Cabbage

Skunk Cabbage, Photo Credit: Mike Floyd

Skunk Cabbage is by far the strangest flower you'll ever come across in the Blue Ridge... it has a leathery rigid bloom that can work its way up through snow and ice in late February and early March by generating its own heat! This is known as thermogenesis, a process in which a plant produces heat above the air temperature through cyanide resistant cellular respiration!? A rare feat among plants! The bloom grows to between 2-5" tall and puts off a feces-like odor that attracts scavenging pollinators like winter stoneflies while keeping away large mammals that might destroy the bloom. The plant grows in soft soggy stream bottoms where you can often find it in large patches. It is peaking right now, so go check them out!

Skunk Cabbage

Exciting to finally see the Skunk Cabbage blooming for the first time this last week of February. Because it is a winter blooming flower I forget to go looking for it, especially with the snow cover. I have read that the heat produced by the rapid growth of the flower will actually melt snow. The snow finally melted here in Grayson a couple of weeks ago and I was determined to find the flower this year. Knowing exactly where it grows on our property helped make it more easy to come up with but it was still difficult to spot. It was tucked into a recessed pocket of soil, in a low lying ravine with water seeping all around. Even though it is a reddish color it blended in very well with its' surroundings. I kept a check on it and eventually it emerged from the ground to about 4 inches and opened up somewhat to reveal the spadix, covered with tiny prickly flowers. I accidentally step on it. Luckily it is a thick and sturdy flower, and it released it's pungent stinky onion type odor. Likely the most unusual flower I've seen.

-Jane Floyd