Tag: Dawn’s Spring Festival 2026

Symplocarpus foetidus

The Symplocarpus foetidus, aka Eastern skunk cabbage, is growing in a small garden of our rental home. When I first saw the plants in the small garden I wasn’t sure what type of plant they were.

The Eastern Skunk Cabbage is a native North American wildflower. It is known for being among the first plants to emerge in late winter.

It is a low-growing plant that grows in wetlands (Why here, I’m not sure. We definitely don’t live in a wetland area. We did have snow and ice storms this winter though.) and moist hill slopes (the area it’s planted in is more or less flat) of eastern North America.

We moved here evidently after the plants had already bloomed. When in blooming season, the plant produces a foul-smelling, maroon-and-green mottled spathe (hood) that covers its flowers, attracting pollinators like flies and beetles with its heat and odour. Its foul-smelling odour is the main reason it is called “Skunk Cabbage.”

Once the Eastern Skunk Cabbage flowers, then large, cabbage-like leaves unfurl, and the plant is toxic if ingested raw, causing burning and swelling.

Click on each image to enlarge. 

Terri’s The #Flower Hour #26

Dawn’s Spring Festival 2026-Week 5

Also posting in remembrance of … 

Bren’s Floral Friday 

Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD)

Photo Credit:©️2026 Deb L. Waters … All Rights Reserved. 

Camera: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Location: Backyard Garden; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Have a funtastic weekend. Enjoy the Spring Florals. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.