Mighton Woods Station 10

Welcome to Station 10, please click on the links below to learn more information.

Interesting sites near this station

Eastern Skunk Cabbage

Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is a native low growing plant that grown in wetlands, near streams and moist hill slopes. It grows from a thick rhizome, typically a foot in length, and has large green leaves that are 16 to 22 inches long and 12 to 16 inches wide. The leaves emerge after the spadix (fleshy stalk), and are pulled back to the soil at the end of the growing season in Fall.

Eastern skunk cabbage is one of only a few plants that can metabolically generate heat. Since it can bloom while there is still snow and ice around, the spadix can generate enough heat so that it is up to 20 F warmer inside the plant than outside. It can even do this for up to two weeks, ensuring a constant temperature for optimal flower maturation and pollination.

The flowers of the skunk cabbage are one of the first to emerge at the end of Winter. It consists of a large hood-like spathe that twists around and has an opening of 4 to 6 inches on one side, where it forms a protective enclosure for the ovoid spadix. The spathe is usually maroon with yellow or green streaks and the ovoid spadix is yellow. Numerous small straw-colored flowers can be seen along the spadix.

The flower of the skunk cabbage is putrid which attracts beetles, flies and gnats who visit it and carry the pollen from one flower to another to pollinate. After pollination the spathe disappears and the spadix develops in a fruit head. This fruit is dark brown to black in color appears berry-like. A seed is in each berry and these are released in the ground as the fruit heads fall apart, germinating in the soil where they fall.

Although the eastern skunk cabbage can be used in herbal medicine, it is not recommended that any of the plant be eaten raw. The roots can cause nausea and vomiting, headache and dizziness, while the leaves can burn the skin. This is due to Calcium Oxalate crystals within the plant. Toxicity of the plant can be eliminated by changing the water frequently while boiling and thoroughly drying the plant before use.

Interesting Facts

Skunk Cabbage was used by the Native Americans as a medicinal herb, spice and talisman.

From 1820 to 1882 it was used to treat respiratory conditions, neurological disorders and rheumatism.

Spiders like to spin their webs at the entrence of the pod so they can trap visiting insects and catch an easy meal.