#symplocarpus

[aardwolfpack]

It looks like a giant virus.

Looking inside a skunk cabbage (by me)

[spatheandspadix]

BIG SKUNKZ

[los-plantalones]

GUYS ITS MY FAVORITE ALMOST SPRING EVENT

The return of the weird little stinky dudes who produce their own heat and smell like rotting onions in a rubber sack with hints of weed and bad compost

I love you skunk cabbage never change 💚

[geopsych]

Skunk cabbage on a frosty morning.

[banji-effect]

Skunk cabbages in bloom, showing the spadices within the spathes

[porchprairie]

And what a fun weird shape it is

Have you ever seen (symplocarpus foetidus) skunk’s cabbage? I know it’s not your usual deal but it’s a real funky flower that’s blooming this time of year that I thought you might like (: it can bring it’s temperature to 15–35 °C (59–95 °F) above air temperature to melt ice and snow so it can get to doing it’s thing. Also it stinks when it gets bruised or broken! (Hence the name.)

this was actually my gateway drug to botany! i got interested in them in high school, then wanted to find out what exactly made them heat up and why because the popsci articles i read didn't actually give an answer, and that led me into a bunch of scientific papers i didnt have the education to understand and needed to learn a lot to slowly go through, etc. they were my first academic spiral into madness lmao. VERY cool little guys doing VERY clever things in the disgusting cold mud, let me tell you.

(side note: i think what i find shocking about these dudes now, years later, isn't the fact that they do thermogenesis, but how WELL they do thermogenesis. like i need to go do another research deep dive now that i have like... a bio degree instead of being in high school tbh, but basically they're able to detect the outside temperature to a very specific amount and adjust their heat production to match, and they do this for like, WEEKS at a time. it's shocking, legitimately, like to my knowledge it's the only plant that does this to this degree. most other thermogenic plants seem to use the strategy of just heating up as hot as possible for a really short amount of time just to Have Sex and then bail-- there's no real effort in maintaining it for more than a few hours or days and it's a VERY expensive process in terms of energy, so why bother doing tons of really specific constant tiny checks and adjustments for weeks on end? there must be a huge benefit to the time these plants put into it, conserving that energy and carefully partitioning heating out in spurts instead of dumping it all at once... man, its really interesting. but anyway i love them so much like, truly i do, there is a skunk cabbage shaped place in my heart for them lmao)

[intosnarkness]

Behold the field in which I grow my cronch

Affectionately named “crochies” by the two dweebs who live in my house, symplocarpus foetidus, or Eastern Skunk Cabbage, grows all over our woods.

They smell, and are pollinated by flies. They have weird red-brown flowers and medicinal properties, including use by some native tribes as an expectorant.

But my favorite things about these weird, seemingly boring guys is that they’re thermogenic. They use a form of cellular respiration to create heat that thaws the ground around them and lets them be some of the first blooms every winter.

Nat and I have several paths through the woods that we have named for easy communication- punishment hill is very steep, phantoon because it is mid-mid, zoop pond is where you find the green herons, bridge and back means going to the bridge and back. But my favorite is the cronch fields. The fields where we grow our cronch. Very rarely barren.

[vandaliatraveler]

Early March on the Mon River Trail.

Sunday was a gorgeous day for a bike ride, balmy and softly lit by the late Winter sun. The smooth alder (Alnus serrulata) is in bloom along the river - the catkins are incredibly beautiful to me. More whimsical are the pointy-capped flowers of the eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), which emerge from the muddy margins of local swamps in mid-February. At mile marker 17 (last photo from the bottom), I spotted my first bald eagle of the season - a mature, solitary bird who got away before I could get my camera positioned. I'll try again next weekend.

[kihaku-gato]

What's the coolest plant in the world

Coolest plant in the world… god that's tricky cause what do you even choose or what rules do you even go by to put one at the top??? It's a much harder metric than just Favourite Plant, but a fun one to try to explore.

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First thought for me was Ginkgo cause ancient-ass tree that despite nuclear bombs and fires and cityscape hostility REFUSES to die.

but then there is also

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Any carnivorous plant, with them solving nutrient deficiencies with carnivory, but especially Drosera and Bladderwort since the former straight up has evolved TENTACLE LIKE HAIRS to catch its prey, and the latter basically specializes in carnivory UNDERWATER!!!

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Dracaena cinnabari for having BLOOD RED SAP (straight up called the Dragonsblood tree) and just looks funky/ancient af in its adult state.

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Giants among their respective plant groups like Victoria boliviana being an infamous primeval giant among the water lilies.

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And how could I forget the mind-boggling Boquila trifoliolata, the shapeshifter of vines, which will even try to mimic the leaves of FAKE plants its growing on/by, not just real plants.

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There's also plants that actively change their microclimates to their advantage like Noble Rhubarb using pale translucent leaves as minigreenhouses to protect and warm its flowers, or Symplocarpus foetidus which can produce HEAT from its flowerbuds to melt the snow!!

And I'm sure I'm overlooking so many terrifying extremophiles within the plant kingdom for badass/cool factor as well as plants that are just straight-up metal. There's too many awesome ones to select to make just one single plan the coolest of all! Some of these remind me that fantasy/sci fi doesn't go far enough with plants oftentimes cause LOOK at these lads.

[papaziggy-devblog]

...... Ok, Helianthus Annuus ( .w.)

I. Hate. Flowers.

........

Whatever you say Symplocarpus Foetidus (.w. )

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

My Garden Flowers Part 8

All photos mine.

In order of appearance:

211. White Avens (Geum canadense) This was here before I got there and as she's native she survived the purge I did of the weeds.

212. Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida) I didn't plant this, but she's in lots of places now and she's not always this orange, often leaning more toward amber, but she is always very pretty.

213. Tall White Lettuce (Prenanthes altissima) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

214. American Red Raspberry (Rubus strigosus) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

215. Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

216. Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) The leaves look a lot like strawberry leaves, the flowers look like if strawberry flowers were yellow, and they make a red berry! But it tastes woody and bland. Hence the name. I still want to make a jam of them if I ever get enough of them, though.

217. Tufted Hairgrass (Deschampsia ceaspitosa) Don't mind the bull thistle behind it that I wasn't able to remove, but the foliage of the grass is a nice blue-green and the flowers are, well, tufts.

218. Largeflower Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) The flowers are always bowed as if wilting. They're springtime flowers only.

219. Spotted Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) One of the only two Impatiens species native this far north. The flowers of this one are orange. She likes moist to wet spots and can handle full sun to full shade.

220. Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata) Yellow flowers in summer, dark red leaves in autumn.

221. Thicket Creeper (Parthenocissus vitacea) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

222. Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

223. Black Cherry (Prunus nigra) Not pictured as I haven't got pictures yet.

224. Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricata) A sunflower that can handle shade! Not heavy shade, but a considerable amount.

225. Fringed Willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum) I didn't plant this, but she has cute tiny flowers and she has tasty leaves.

226. Starry False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum stellatum) Little star-shaped white flowers become candy-striped red berries.

227. Narrow-Leaved Wild Leek (Allium burdickii) Like her close cousin, A. tricoccum, she only matures enough to flower after seven years, so this is special.

228. Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

229. Common Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris vulgaris) A common garden weed but she's native to my range of acceptability for my garden, so she stays wherever she's not in the way.

230. Bog Bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

231. Red Wakerobin (Trillium erectum) Her stem broke the first year I had her. I was afraid she'd die but I was able to splint her and she survived to flower again the following year for this picture!

232. Marsh Violet (Viola palustris) Small round leaves grow close to the ground and flowers come up on stalks a few inches above. As the name suggests she prefers things wet.

233. Duck Potato (Saggittaria latifolia) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

234. Purple avens (Geum rivale) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

235. Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) I got two cultivars and they sadly didn't survive the winter. Maybe the wild type would fare better if I could get my hands on that.

236. American Bur-Reed (Sparganium americanum) Fluffy ball flowers. She likes things moist to wet.

237. Heart-Leaved Alexanders (Zizia aptera) She's not quite as showy as her cousin, Zizia aurea, but a nice little plant in a moist to wet area.

238. Canada Burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis) Not pictured as she hasn't flowered yet.

239. Oval-Leaved Milkweed (Asclepias ovalifolia) Her second flowering year. She's considerably shorter than most milkweeds. Her cream-coloured flowers are a lovely addition to a garden. Especially if you're tempted to get the white cultivar of swamp milkweed, oval-leaf milkweed also likes wet areas and is well-behaved. Why not get her instead?

240. Redbud (Cercis canadensis) Not pictured as I haven't got pictures yet.

[neverfeltthewinterquitesodead]

symplocarpus foetidus skunk cabbage albert fw vick jr, 1989, lady bird johnson wildflower center

[spatheandspadix]

First flowering skunk cabbage of 2024!

[los-plantalones]

springtime 💜

[geopsych]

When I posted some mayapple plants recently someone asked if there is skunk cabbage too. All of this is just a few steps away from the mayapples.

[banji-effect]

Skunk cabbages 💜💚