Symplocarpus foetidus seed
LATIN NAME: Symplocarpus foetidus
COMMON NAME: Skunk Cabbage
The skunk cabbage is the strange, dark hood of the spring marsh, and the mottled spathes rise before the broad leaves. The bold, foul-smelling, perennial plant carries the large, broad, heart-shaped leaves and the curious, mottled, maroon-and-green spathes that open into the hoods around the small, hidden flower clubs through the very early spring, one of the fine, curious sights of the marsh. The plant gives off the fine, skunk-like smell that draws the early flies, and it is a plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, wet, boggy ground.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The skunk cabbage is a curious subject of the plant science, and the mottled hoods keep showing up in the work on the aroid group. The way the spathes warm the hidden flower clubs through the cold spring, one of the fine, curious tricks of the aroid group, has been studied closely, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the aroid plants, the thermogenic flowers and the members of the arum family. The broad, heart-shaped leaves and the boggy habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the skunk cabbage is a regular subject of the work on the strange dark hoods of the cold world.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
The skunk cabbage is a fine, curious plant of the marsh and the bog garden. The curious, mottled, maroon-and-green spathes rise through the very early spring, one of the fine, curious sights of the marsh, drawing the early flies with the warm, skunk-like scent, and the large, broad, heart-shaped leaves make the bold, green clump of the bog through the summer. The plant is one of the fine choices for the bog garden, the pond edge and the study collection, and it has been written about in the botanical and the horticultural papers for the strange hoods and the early season. It is a fine, curious plant of the open, sunny to partly shaded, wet, boggy garden.
Keep the young plants in the wet, boggy ground through the first season, and the hoods will come in the years ahead.
To grow the skunk cabbage from seed, sow the small, round seeds on the surface of a pot of gritty, free-draining soil, with a light press, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the wet, boggy ground. The seedlings come up in their own good time and grow on slowly at first. With the sun or the light shade and the wet, boggy ground, the strange hoods will rise through the early spring.