The few brave flowers which have blossomed probably wished they could generate heat like the skunk cabbage can. Otherwise they need a tent with a heater to weather another night below freezing. The skunk cabbage have the ability to metabolically generate heat by cyanide resistant cellular respiration which can raise the temperature about 20 degrees.
Warm Skunk Cabbage
The skunk cabbage is able to generate heat by cellular respiration and is able to melt its way through the icy ground to bloom early in the spring. That heat may also help spread the odor that is in its name. It might need that heat to melt the snow that fell today.
Eastern Skunk Cabbage
With almost all the snow gone, at least temporarily, I almost expected to see some wildflowers popping up, but of course I didn’t see any in the woods today. But maybe some skunk cabbages have poked through the soil in some other areas (leaving a smelly odor too marking its presence).
Smelly Skunk Cabbage
The first spring wildflower has emerged, although I had to travel two hours south to see it. In wetland areas, the skunk cabbage flower buds can warm up to 70 degrees, which thaws the ground and melts the snow to allow them to be one of the first wildflowers to bloom in early spring.
The flowers of the skunk cabbage appear before the leaves and the maroon hood is the spathe and the many petal-less flowers form the spiky spadix. The spathe opens more when the flower matures to allow more pollinators access. Its name comes from its unpleasant odor it emits to attract pollinators that are attracted to rotting meat. The scent is especially noticeable when the plant is bruised.
The Smelly Skunk Cabbage
