More Skunk Cabbage

It was impossible to make a path to the swamp without killing a few skunk cabbages. After accidentally, and then deliberately stepping on the ones that were in my way, I finally dig one up to get a look at the whole plant.



Everything below the (slightly crushed) blossom was underground. The roots, or what of them I was able to pull up with the plant, have a wonderfully wormy look to them.



Having stomped and then handled the plant, I finally got a whiff of the odor that gives the plant its name. It does indeed small of skunk when damaged. And it certainly does not smell like food. Which is why I find this article so entertaining.

Here are a few more images, showing the skunk cabbage flower hood partially peeled away, and then the flower with the hood removed entirely. The interior of the hood was dry and dusted with pollen.