Do Skunk Cabbages Bloom?

One of the earliest blooms of the season is that of the skunk cabbage; but you would have trouble recognizing that dark, tough, fleshy, smelly claw so close to the ground as a flower. In a way, you are right, it is actually an inflorescence and the each of the many little sections of the central knob is a whole flower. The amazing part is how pollination takes place; the smell, dark color of dead meat and also the rise in temperature attract carrion flies that are fooled by all these features and lay their eggs on the skunk cabbage, picking up pollen and carrying it to other flowers in the process. Unfortunately for the mother fly, her babies wont find any food and die of starvation.

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