I wish to photograph eastern skunk cabbage in bloom this year. I have tried to use iNat to find out when, but the information can’t seem to get into my head. Does anyone know? (The location is Maine, United States.) Also, are skunk cabbages considered spring ephemerals?
Thank you in advance!
I actually saw this species for the first time today (in Virginia), most of the flowers were past their prime and shriveled, but a few were still there. It seems now is the tail end of their blooming season, at least here in VA, so I’d get looking ASAP
1 Like
Yeah, now is the time, as soon as the snow melts off the plants.
1 Like
And question two… yes they are considered ephemeral.
1 Like
There aren’t any observations of skunk cabbage from Maine yet this year, so I’d say you still have time. If you go on the taxon page for Symplocarpus foetidus and filter by place, Maine (top right), and then click ‘Flowers and Fruits’ under ‘Charts’, you can see most of the flowering observations are in April, with a good amount in March. So I’d guess late-March to April would be the time for your neck of the woods.
1 Like
Well that’s easy since they generate their own heat.
Thank you everyone! I really wish there was a way to mark multiple replies as solutions. But there isn’t, so I just went with the first one.
1 Like
They’re up now in Minnesota. We pretty consistently see them poking through the snow by late February.
1 Like