Location: Woodland Trail, Four Rounds
In Bloom: January through March

The Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, is one of the earliest flowering plants at Glenstone. Go down the Woodland Trail in February and look towards the stream in the wetland area of the woodland. Look for low-growing, claw-shaped purple flower heads. If there’s snow, they will be not just emerging through the snow, but melting it. Skunk Cabbages are one of the few plants that are thermogenic: they have the ability to raise their own temperature from 26 to 63 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat helps spread a carrion-like scent that gives the plant its name and helps attract pollinators such as blow flies and beetles. After flowering, large leaves emerge.