Plantae > Tracheophyta > Liliopsida > Alismatales > Araceae > Symplocarpus > Symplocarpus foetidus

Symplocarpus foetidus (Skunk Cabbage)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage (also swamp cabbage, clumpfoot cabbage, or meadow cabbage, foetid pothos or polecat weed), is a low growing, foul-smelling plant that grows in wetlands of eastern North America.
View Wikipedia Record: Symplocarpus foetidus

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Summer
Drought Tolerance [1]  Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [1]  5 months
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  Low
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Spring
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [1]  Spring
Growth Rate [1]  Moderate
Hazards [2]  The plant is poisonous; This report probably refers to the presence of calcium oxylate in all parts of the plant. This substance is toxic and if consumed makes the mouth and digestive tract feel as though hundreds of needles are being stuck into it. However, calcium oxylate is easily destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant;
Leaf Type [1]  Deciduous
Lifespan [2]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Insects, Lepidoptera
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Seed
Regrowth Rate [1]  Slow
Root Depth [1]  12 inches (30 cm)
Scent [2]  All parts of the pant, but especially the flowers, have a strong unpleasant aroma that is said to be a combination of skunk, carrion and garlic;
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Seed Vigor [1]  Medium
Seeds Per [1]  65000 / lb (143300 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Erect
Structure [3]  Herb
Usage [2]  An infusion of the powdered root has been used as a wash to 'cure a strong smell under your arm';
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Flower Color [1]  Purple
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Flower Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Width [2]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mostly Shady
Soil Acidity [1]  Mostly Acid
Soil Fertility [1]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  High
Screening - Summer [1]  Moderate
Screening - Winter [1]  Porous
View Plants For A Future Record : Symplocarpus foetidus

Protected Areas

Ecosystems

Predators

Providers

Pollinated by 
Calliphora vomitoria (Blue bottle fly)[4]

Consumers

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 4Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
♦ 5HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0