Like a genie emerging from a bottle, this unusual flower emerges from the ground. It has been suggested that the warming not only exposes the blossoms in the snow, but also spreads the odors on the air, enticing insect pollinators to come over. with no snow in this particular spot, so we can’t observe the effects of thermogenesis, a special sort of metabolism in which the plant heats up the surrounding ground (even perhaps melting the snow around the plant). My photos aren’t great, but the flowers are teardrop-shaped, perhaps the size of your hand, and a dark crimson color, mottled with cream or gold splotches.
And, I found the Skunk Cabbage!! It was in bloom, and pretty. As instructed, I found a spot with several “benches” (natural terraces on the slope) in a steep valley. So, armed with helpful hints, I went off on steep & twisting back roads outside Decorah. Bluffs, rugged topography, and clear cold streams make this part of Iowa special! The exposed rocks and cliffs in places have a water discharge from the ground. She has published about the plant ecology of these unusual wetlands: Skunk Cabbage and associated plants of groundwater-fed “seeps.” These wetlands are associated with the hillsides and exposed strata of the “ Driftless Area” of northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin-a region the glaciers missed, and the land has amazing topography. Beth Lynch at Luther College was kind enough to point me to a couple sites near her location in Winneshiek county. So, of course, I just had to go find some! I’ve seen the plant in summer (at Hanging Bog Preserve in Linn County), admiring the very large cabbage-like leaves that really do smell like skunk. As the Latin name ( Symplocarpus foetidus) implies, it is fetid…it stinks.
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