Join Aullwood’s Environmental Educator Sam Romeo on a search for this fascinating native plant! One of the earliest blooming wildflowers, the Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is found in marshy deciduous woods, alongside streams and wetlands, and in other moist habitats. Skunk Cabbage is one of the few plants to exhibit thermogenesis - the ability to generate heat - so that it can bloom while there is still snow on the ground. Thermogenesis melts the snow and reveals the plant's beautiful yellow spadix to be pollinated by scavenging beetles and flies rather than our familiar pollinators. Join us on the search to find these funky plants!

Meet in the lobby of Aullwood's Nature Center for this program. Preregistration is not needed, just drop in! Members of Aullwood, National Audubon Society and ANCA affiliated organizations attend this event at no cost; nonmembers pay regular Aullwood general admission fees, which are free for children 3 and under, $8.00 for children 4 to 12, $12.00 for adults 13 to 64, and $10.00 for seniors age 65 and over, active duty military members and veterans with military ID. 

[Skunk Cabbage at Aullwood February 2023 Photo: Aullwood Audubon / Ken Fasimpaur]