Skunk Cabbage

[Peatmoss]

I made time (plenty of that for me at the moment) to go visit a population of Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) now that the weather is getting milder. There's still about 2 to 6 inches of snow on the ground, but I was pleased to find two flowers that were emerging despite this covering. These were growing about 1 foot above the waters of a small stream that runs along a pathway. These aren't common around Ottawa, so this was my first time seeing them.

These plants belong to the Araceae (Aroid family) so they do the whole spathe/spadix thing. They also produce heat through cellular respiration in order to beat the vast majority of other plants to flowering.

 

[Sib]

Ive never seen one though i see beekeepers in michigan saying bees are foraging on them, im tempted to go for a walk to see if i can find anything... think the bees are mostly foraging on the ample maples atm

 

[Peatmoss]

Ive never seen one though i see beekeepers in michigan saying bees are foraging on them, im tempted to go for a walk to see if i can find anything... think the bees are mostly foraging on the ample maples atm

I saw this and I wondered if it would make interestingly flavored honey (in the vein of clover honey or orange blossom honey) but apparently they don't produce much in the way of nectar so the bees are mostly collecting pollen. They're pretty neat plants, and definitely worth looking for in the wild, post pics if you find any!

 

[Sib]

Any tips on finding them? Yup its all about the pollen, these early season plants are all about pollen they are itchig to kick up brood production!

 

[Peatmoss]

I'd reccomend searching up the species on a platform like iNaturalist to find patches, in some areas they can be few and far between (this is the only location I know of within an hour of me) but people report them and it can be relatively easily to find suitable wet habitats using google maps from there.

 

[Josh]

Plenty of skunk cabbage at my place. As far as I know it's not a protected species in Canada. If you don't have any in your area, I could send a couple.