Symplocarpus foetidus | I Just Gotta Share…

Recently, on a walk with a friend down our road, we spotted some early spring blossoms I call, “Spring Indicators.” For me they are screaming, “It’s happening! It’s Spring!!! Hallelujah!!” Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of the earliest to emerge. My friend mentioned that they were thermogenic, meaning that they produce their own heat. I had no clue; this was new information for me. She also added that they provide a service to bees during the chilly days of spring. The bees can go into their spathe, which is the hoodlike structure to warm up. I simply loved learning about this mutually beneficial relationship, so I just had to delve deeper. Here’s what I uncovered.

“Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) can generate heat reaching temperatures ranging from 59-95 degrees F above air temperature by a process known as thermogenesis. It uses cyanide resistant cellular respiration to melt its way through frozen ground. The head shell around the flower traps the warm air inside creating the prefect little space heater for honey bees.

Honey Bees prefer to stop at scented flowers and the flowers of skunk cabbage emit differing scents varying from carrion, apple, turnip and garlic to entice the bees. As the bee forages for pollen to bring home to the hive, the flower emanates heat inside it’s shell creating a shelter for the bee that warms up the bees body so it can return safely home in the cold foraging temperatures that skunk cabbage blooms. A smelly weedy swamp plant functioning as a mini sauna and snack bar for bees – How cool is that!” By Anita Deeley at BeverlyBees.com

Then I asked myself; how does creating heat benefit the Skunk Cabbage? Sure, it’s nice to provide a warm safe place for your pollinators, but it takes quite a bit of energy, there must be more to it. Well, Barbara J. Nicholson and Sylvia L. Halkin from the Central Connecticut State University discovered: “Heat production in Symplocarpus foetidus is thought to assist pollination by accelerating the maturation of eggs and pollen in the spadix (aka flower), by melting any overlying snow cover to expose the spathe (aka hood), and by attracting a variety of pollinators through the emission of heat, odor and/or CO2.”

And there is more: “The heating process has another advantage: it helps intensify the flower’s rank odor, described as a combination of rotting meat, apples, turnips and garlic. It’s a perfume guaranteed to attract attention, and early emerging honeybees and other flies are glad to smell it. The lure brings them to flower stamens loaded with pollen, ensuring the flower is fertilized and produces seeds.” by John Challis of the Couchiching Conservancy

Well, that’s thermogenesis in the life of the Skunk Cabbage. Who knew? Mother Nature is fantastic and brilliant; she never ceases to amaze me.

What new natural fact has blown you away recently? Please share and I will continue to share.

I love exploring the woods all year round, but especially during the spring, it’s always thrilling to see what has emerged since my last visit. There’s something about seeing the evolution of the plants peeking through the earth on one visit, to them struggling towards the sun on another and then, finally, blooming. In the past, I’ve been honored to experience them emerge on my daily hikes. Unfortunately, the last couple of years my schedule hasn’t allowed me to go into the woods as much I would like, missing too many of my friends in bloom.

This year has been particularly difficult for me to slip into the woods regularly. However, on my annual birthday hike, I was more than blessed with a spring bouquet. Typically, there is a progression of blossoms in the woods. I call the first ones Spring Indicators: Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), and Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). These tend to be the first arrivals and then as the weeks progress, others go into bloom as their blossoms disappear. This year spring has been different on so many levels, and perhaps the plants knew they needed to take advantage of the fine weather to make their move all at once. Lucky for me, it felt like everyone waited to bloom for my birthday hike. Not only was everyone blooming in concert, there was an extraordinary abundance of them. In the past, I might see only few Bloodroot in bloom. This year, I saw more than four large patches of them.

Quite frankly, I am blessed with a fabulous day to be born ~ May 4th. There is nothing better than having a birthday in May, when everything is breaking out of its winter slumber and painting the woods with a rainbow of colors. Although, winter seemed to linger way too long this year, I was not disappointed when spring decided to show herself on the day of my birth.

Check out all the lovelies along the trail.