Skunk Cabbage - April 7th, 2011

I do love the stuff. After spending some time on Google, I learned the names for the parts of it. I find it all fascinating. It's bright colored, mottled curving spathes (the reddish-purple parts), the yellow spadix (the egg-looking thing inside) where the blossoms appear. The flowers themselves are apparently tiny yellow blossoms on the spadix. I'm not sure if they get any bigger than the ones in a couple pics below or not.

It has a prehistoric look to me. Even it's spathes & blossoms set it apart in the plant world-- in my limited experience at least. And does it ever love wet areas. Rubber boots are de rigeur if you want to get close to most of them.

The spadix... the "bumps" are the blossoms it seems.

Green leaves getting ready to unfurl...

One of the leaves opening...

A few leaves open in this one...

This leaf has a real "cabbage" look...

Waist deep in muck-- it's preferred location.

It's all beautiful... to me anyway. :-)