{"id":1482,"date":"2012-02-21T13:00:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2012-12-03T15:55:53","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T20:55:53","slug":"skunk-cabbage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/2012\/02\/21\/skunk-cabbage\/","title":{"rendered":"Skunk Cabbage"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have always noticed the Skunk Cabbage in Glen Providence Park<\/strong>, but only this year did I learn how remarkable these plants are.<\/p>\n

Eastern Skunk Cabbage<\/strong> (Symplocarpus foetidus)<\/em> is native to eastern North America. It grows in soft wetland soils- you can find it growing in the wetlands along Broomall’s Run<\/strong> throughout the park. It flowers in late winter and early spring<\/strong>, when only the flowers and their protective covering are visible above the mud. The stems remain buried below the surface of the soil with the large, cabbage-like leaves emerging later.<\/p>\n

We found it emerging in the park on a bitterly cold day this January. How does it bloom in such cold conditions? Amazingly, Skunk Cabbage can generate temperatures of up to 15-35\u00b0C above air temperature: it\u00a0literally melts its way through frozen ground, ice and snow.<\/em><\/strong> The heat it produces may help to spread its odor in the air, attracting early-emerging pollinating insects.<\/p>\n

Skunk Cabbage gets its name from the pungent odor<\/strong> produced by breaking or tearing a leaf.\u00a0\u00a0This odor attracts its pollinators: scavenging flies, stoneflies, and bees.\u00a0 Its intriguing flowers are tiny, covering a yellow-green spadix<\/em>, and are protected by an eggplant-like shell called a spathe<\/em>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 19th century the U.S. Pharmacopoeia listed Eastern Skunk Cabbage as the drug “dracontium<\/em>“. It was used in the treatment of respiratory diseases, nervous disorders, rheumatism, and dropsy.<\/strong> It is not considered edible raw, because the roots are toxic <\/strong>and the leaves can burn the mouth.\u00a0 The Lenni-Lenape<\/strong>, or Delaware Indians, are among the Native Americans who used Skunk Cabbage medicinally.\u00a0 The Okehocking<\/a><\/strong> were the local tribe of the Lenni-Lenape who lived along Ridley and Crum Creeks, and they could have used Skunk Cabbage along Broomall’s Run. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The documented uses of Skunk Cabbage by the Delaware Indians<\/a> are:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Poultice of crushed leaves applied for pain
\n– Small portions of leaves chewed for epilepsy
\n– Infusion of roots used for whooping cough
\n– Infusion of leaves taken as a cold medicine<\/p>\n

Not bad for one plant!\u00a0 You can follow the plant’s stages in our photo gallery below<\/strong>.\u00a0 The first image was taken in January, but the rest were taken yesterday- so you can see multiple stages of this intriguing plant during one visit to Glen Providence Park. <\/strong>
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Perhaps I should let Henry David Thoreau<\/strong> have the last word:\u00a0 “If you are afflicted with melancholy at this season, go to the swamp and see the brave spears of skunk-cabbage buds already advanced toward a new year…There is no can\u2019t nor cant to them. They see over the brow of winter\u2019s hill. They see another summer ahead.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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For more fun facts about Skunk Cabbage, read this entertaining article on TheNaturalCapital.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Information from wikipedia<\/a> unless otherwise linked.<\/em><\/p>\n

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