Asian skunk cabbage is an early-spring wetland plant of East Asia and a close cousin of the eastern skunk cabbage of the eastern United States. Like its American relative, its flower spike makes its own heat, staying around 70°F (21°C) even when the air is below freezing. It grows wild in Japan, Korea, northeastern China, and the Russian Far East, but not in the United States.
Appearance
- Leaves
- After flowering it grows a rosette of big, rounded, heart-shaped leaves about 12–16 in (30–40 cm) long and nearly as wide.
- Flowers
- A thick, leathery, boat-shaped hood () 3–8 in (8–20 cm) tall, usually dark purple to blackish purple, wraps a small egg-shaped knob packed with tiny flowers. The flowers smell like rotting meat.
- Flowering time
- Early spring, before the leaves come up.
- Fruit
- A rounded cluster of berries that ripens in summer of the same year.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- forest swamps
- wet meadows
- shady wet woods
- Range
- Native to the Russian Far East, northeastern China, Korea, and northern and central Japan. It does not grow wild in the US; the skunk cabbage of the eastern US and southeastern Canada is a different species, Symplocarpus foetidus.
- Preferred conditions
- Wet ground in forests and swampy meadows, mostly at low elevations.
Cautions
- Cautions
- The plant is poisonous.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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