Although it is still winter, the days are getting noticeably longer, the chickadee starts singing its spring mating song, and the first wildflower of the year – skunk cabbage – is in full bloom. How is this possible when the ground is frozen and the threat of snow still very real.

Skunk cabbage has a remarkable ability to produce its own heat which allows it to melt the snow around it and bloom even when the ground is frozen. But what pollinates a flower in winter? The skunk cabbage has a couple of tricks. The flowers emit the smell of rotting meat – which is like perfume to flies and carrion beetles. But the hood also serves as a little warming hut where insects can heat up their flight muscles. The plant not only produces heat, it regulates the temperature as well, keeping the air inside the hood at a comfortable 68 degrees regardless of the outside temperature. 

Do not try to eat this plant! It contains calcium oxalate crystals, which will cause a severe burning sensation in your mouth, throat and esophagus. Some animals, however, seem immune to these crystals. For the black bear, just coming out of hibernation – and ravenous – skunk cabbage is an important food source. 

You can see the brown/green hoods poking up through the wetlands along the Bockoven Trail near the vernal pool and also along the boardwalks at the Wildlife Observation Center, but you have to look closely. By April, when the showy spring wildflowers are appearing, the flower of the skunk cabbage will have withered. But its huge, bright green, cabbage-like leaves carpet the wetlands. They are visible well into the summer and are often the first time that many people even notice the skunk cabbage plant. 

This is a wonderful time of year to get outside and start looking, and listening, for early signs of Spring. Hope to see you around the swamp.