skunk cabbage-DSC 0041

Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), a plant of marshy woods. It is one of only a few plants that can generate its own heat allowing it to melt the surrounding snow and is the first to emerge through the snow in early Spring. The flowers are hidden inside the mottled reddish-brown spathe and are hard to see. As the name suggests, it smells bad, which attracts the early flies. Not beautiful, but a guarantee that Spring is coming.