Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Alismatales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Symplocarpus foetidus
FAMILY
Araceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Symplocarpus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The skunk cabbage has a fluid, bud-like quality, and in late winter it can melt its way through the snow by means of its animal-like body heat. Read more in a whole-organism sketch of this “lowly” plant with extraordinary qualities in In Context #4 from the Nature Institute, “Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)” by Craig Holdrege (2000).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symplocarpus foetidus
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symplocarpus foetidus
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Symplocarpus foetidus
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-03-001:
Symplocarpus foetidus FAMILY Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Spathyema foetida
COMMON NAME:
Skunk Cabbage
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_s_foetidus_5
March
The brownish-purple, fleshy, hoodlike spathe is usually striped or spotted, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Tim Spira tpssfoetidus3
March
The spathe encloses a ball-like spadix with numerous tiny flowers, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
JK Marlow jkm060521_077
May Macon County NC
Highlands Biological Station
Found in seepage-fed bogs & nonalluvial swamps, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm060521_086
May Macon County NC
Highlands Biological Station
)
JK Marlow jkm160502_107
May Macon County NC
Highlands Biological Station
)
JK Marlow jkm160502_108
May Macon County NC
Highlands Biological Station
Leaves net-veined and cordate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Tim Spira tpssfoetidus3_2
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0507g_07
July Pocahontas County WV
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
)
Ron Lance rwl_20230911_184934_2
September Oconee County SC
In cultivation
Fruits berry-like, in a subglobular mass to 4" wide, embedded with spherical seeds, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Symplocarpus foetidus
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Symplocarpus foetidus
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Symplocarpus foetidus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Symplocarpus foetidus
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 032-03-001:
Symplocarpus foetidus
FAMILY
Araceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Spathyema foetida
1479
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: seepage-fed bogs and nonalluvial swamps, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina
Uncommon in NC Mountains, rare elsewhere in NC
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
Spathe usually brownish-purple and striped or spotted
4 perianth segments
Inflorescence a spadix
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p016
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p480
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p009
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p340
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p392
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p448
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p003
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".