Western Skunk Cabbage

Taxobox
name = Western Skunk Cabbage

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Liliopsida
ordo = Alismatales
familia = Araceae
genus = "Lysichiton"
species = "L. americanus"
binomial = "Lysichiton americanus"
binomial_authority = Hultén & H.St.John

Western Skunk Cabbage ("Lysichiton americanus"), sometimes called yellow skunk cabbage, is a plant found in swamps and wet woods, along streams and in other wet areas of the Pacific Northwest, where it is one of the few native species in the arum family, together with the duckweeds. The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 cm or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter. The leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 50-135 cm long and 30-80 cm wide when mature. Its flowers are produced in a spadix contained within a large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe 30-40 cm tall; it is among the first flowers to appear in spring. The skunk cabbage also produces heat. During the Winter the heat it produces melts the snow around it so that it is able to survive. Although similarly named, the plant is easy to distinguish from the Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), another species in the arum family found in eastern North America.

Name

The plant is called Skunk Cabbage because of the malodorous, distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits. This odor will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can be detected even in old, dried specimens. The foul odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. Other common names include Yellow Skunk Cabbage and Swamp Lantern.

Range

"L. americanus" is found from Kodiak Island and Cook Inlet, Alaska south through British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California as far south as Santa Cruz County. Isolated populations are also found in northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming [cite web
author=USDA
title=PLANTS Profile:"Lysichiton americanus"
url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LYAM3
accessdate=2008-03-13] .

The plant can also be found growing wild in marshy areas in England, for example at Esher Commons as well as Wisley Gardens, and in Scotland, for example near the ancient Pictish site of Forgandenny in Perthshire.

Uses

While some consider the plant to be a weed, its roots are food for bears, who eat it after hibernating as a laxative or cathartic. The plant was used by indigenous people as medicine for burns and injuries, and for food in times of famine, when almost all parts were eaten. The leaves have a somewhat spicy or peppery taste. Although the plant was not typically part of the diet under normal conditions, its large, waxy leaves were important to food preparation and storage. They were commonly used to line berry baskets and to wrap around whole salmon and other foods when baked under a fire. It is also used to cure sores and swelling.

ee also

*Eastern Skunk Cabbage: Although not in the same genus, it is often confused with it because of the shared common name. The two are easy to distinguish if they are viewed side by side.
*Bog Arum: A similar plant grown as an ornamental herbaceous perennial.

References

* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=222000246 Flora of North America: "Lysichiton americanus"]
* [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?23003 Germplasm Resources Information Network: "Lysichiton americanus"]
* [http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Lysichiton+americanus Native American Ethnobotany: "Lysichiton americanus"]
* [http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/education/lysichiton.php UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research: "Lysichiton americanus"]