Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Kristl Walek on November 23, 2007, 02:27:40 PM
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Hello,
I am posting here this time as I think interesting seed and seed receptacles should be included under this heading.
You undoubtably know the eastern Skunk Cabbage.
It's a fascinating plant, that will grow in the moist, shady garden even though only found in wet places in the wild.
Hip waders are usually not necessary when collecting the seed pods in late fall.
The pods are large and filled with soft pulp enclosing the seeds, which are like bumpy marbles, and more like corms than traditional seed.
Kristl
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Not one I've tried or even seen Kristl. Wierd and wonderful - so many species - so little space. ::)
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This plant grows up the eastern side of the US in shallow swamps from Virginia north into Canada, flowering before the winter has really gone. It melts its way through thin ice and is to be found surrounded by a clear ring of water. To provide the heat it will burn off about 6g of starch in as many days. The plant is an aroid and like many related plants including the British native "Cuckoo Pint"(Arum maculatum) has an interesting respiration mechanism in the spadix which has evolved to attract flies as to pollenate it. As the name suggests it smells rather like skunks. It is hardy inScotland, there has been a large plant at the RGBE for many years close to the big green house at the alpine house end.
Brian Wilson
Aberdeen
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Thank you, Brian, for adding the additional information...long articles have been written about this species......
I would also like to say that the first time I found myself in a large wild population of this, I had to wonder where the "skunk cabbage" reputation came from---I was with a friend, and we both had to work hard to catch the slightest whiff...and only facing the right way in the wind. I even crushed some of the foliage, thinking that perhaps that was necessary to smell the skunkiness- but again, I had to sniff and sniff before I could admit that there was some "faint something"...
Made me wonder whether the strong smell I have heard tales of is most evident at certain times of the year...I have primarily "spent time with them" in the spring, as they emerge, and then again in very late fall to collect the seed.
I grow a few in various areas of the garden here---some in the moist woodland, a couple in a "quasi bog" I built. I can't tell the difference in their happiness levels.
This year I discovered what must be the "mother lode" for this species in my area---a stretch of wet woods right next to a road and extending into the woods as far as the eye could see. Because I really wanted to know how large the "find" was, I drove along the road and took a km reading---1.4km long, and probably as deep (or deeper). I walked as far as I could into the woods to discover the end of the colony, but never reached it after 20 minutes of hiking. I was there for the "spathe emergence"---and the variety of spathe colours were astounding---I really must find my pictures. Interestingly there were high proportions of near-albinos among the mostly deep, deep purple spathes.
Kristl
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Kristi,
I've admired this plant for years and have finally some growing thanks to the generosity of one of the forum members. It's a most interesting plant.
Paddy
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Would be a wonderful addition to our new 'eco-quad' in the school? Warm blooded plants. Cool or wot?! 8)
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Fascinating plant. I grow some of the other "skunk cabbage" (i.e Lysichiton americanum and L. camschatcensis, although have never flowered either) but have never found the Symplocarpus. Very cool flowers and seedpods. I would be very interested to see pics of the different colour forms. Have you marked different plants to collect seed from different colour forms? Your mother lode sounds absolutely fascinating, if somewhat smelly in the right conditions ;D)
Great pics and information everyone.
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Anthony,
I'll keep a close watch next spring and if I have two growing well I'll send on one to you.
Paddy
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Another note on digging/moving *mature* plants of this species...
Be ready to sacrifice your best quality spade and/or what is remaining of your back...
You will not believe how deep the roots go. And if you have machinery (a back hoe) I would suggest this as a first course of action :)
Last year I sent a few plants to Janis Ruksans (so he could compare them to his S. camtschatka form, argument being that there is only one species---S. foetidus, and he wanted them side by side to compare)...this by the way, has now been settled in his own mind. His form and the eastern form (mine) as VERY different plants (and most surely different species, not varieties of S. foetidus).
Well, I can't even begin to tell you what effort it took to send him those 3 mature specimens...3-5 feet deep of digging and even then I had to cut many of the roots to be able to send the plants in less than a three foot box. They did survive the mutilation, came up well in his garden this spring, even flowered AND produced seed for him.
Kristl
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Beautiful plants again, Kristl. Is the pulp around the seed as slimey and bothersome as it looks from the picture?
I have five small plants in the garden, ordered from Ruksans. They should be the camtschatca form, then. I have not yet found a final place in the garden for two of them. From your comment I gather I should not let them wait in the kinder garten too long...
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Staale,
Not a difficult species to clean (relatively speaking)---the pulp is more "meaty" than slimey and the seed is so large that a big sieve, detergent, running water and a large sink get them finished in much less time than many other "fruited" seed. Compared to truly slimey, and glue-like fruit surrounding seed (the soft-fruited species of Opuntia, for instance) this is no labour at all.
Staale--I seem to recall my first year seedlings had 15-30cm roots at least- I wouldn't leave them for more than a few years, although I think it takes some time for them to reach the size of the ones I dug for him (these were mature, multi-spathe, enormous plants). At this point they have a very tough and thick root system.
Here is what it said it one internet source:
"it has contractile roots which contract after growing into the earth. This pulls the stem of the plant deeper into the mud, so that the plant in effect grows downward, not upward. Each year, the plant grows deeper into the earth, so that older plants are practically impossible to dig up. It is thought possible that it may be able to live for hundreds of years."
As mentioned above, the plant, with maturity will produce more than one spathe--I have certainly regularly seen 3-5 spathes on very old plants.
Kristl
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Incredible! It probably smells like the titan arum of sumatra... I have heard this one also "steams"...
Paul, the Lysichiton plants smell bad when in flower?
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Yep, te Lysichitons are supposed to (I've never flowered mine so I don't know). I have enough other stinky plants already that they'll have some competition to be worse than the others I have!! ;D I do so love the Araceae family. 8) Symplocarpus is now of course on the list to find..... very very cool!! :)
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It's also hardy here in Norway near Trondheim. One of the highlights of spring and definitely the wierdest spring plant. This picture was taken on 12th May. I think my plant was sourced from the US originally..
It is about 10-years old. Anyone know if Symplocarpus is dioecious? My plant has never produced seed. If it is, can anyone help my lonely skunk cabbage? I have a large trade list at http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/stevil
I've also read that Symplocarpus is thermogenic, which means "heat generating" and the flowers can reach over 40C even though the air temperature is considerably lower....
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They are SUCH cool looking flowers.
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Anthony,
I'll keep a close watch next spring and if I have two growing well I'll send on one to you.
Paddy
Thanks very much Paddy. That's very generous.
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I have never seen this plant so ask if that leaf is typical? If so, I can see why it would be called "skunk" for the smell and "cabbage" for the very cabbage-like leaf.
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I can't say whether the leaf is typical as I only have one plant...
However, another reason for the cabbage part is that the spring shoots were apparently used by at least one Native American tribe for food. However, this is not recommended as the leaves contain large amounts of calcium oxylate crystals (as does the tropical/sub-tropical vegetable Taro, Colocasia esculenta), but in much larger amounts. I've read some excruciating accounts of well known US wild foragers trying Skunk Cabbage for the first (and usually last) time. It seems that cooking doesn't destroy the crystals and 6 months or so of drying is required by which time the leaves taste like cardboard....
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Sounds delicious ;D The Maori but more particularly Pacific Islander population of NZ eat taro as a staple food. There are more Pacific Islanders (Samoan, Tongan, Cooks, etc) than there are in the Pacific Islands.
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yone know if Symplocarpus is dioecious?
Deni Bown's book, Aroids, says that the spadix is bisexual.
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Paul, the other stinky plants of your collection are all aroids?
Do anyone grow the mediterranean Helicodiceros muscivorus?
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I do Mike but have only had mine for 6 weeks and not flowering size yet. I've seen it in flower. Disgusting!! I love it. ;D
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Now Paul will have to post a photo of his......
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Rob,
I'll see if I still have it.... it hasn't flowered in a couple of years so unless I have it on backups from before the computer crash I won't have a copy. Then again, I think I have posted it a couple of places and might be able to find it that way. I just love it, even it is it a bit wierd!! ;D
And it offsets very well Jindegales, too well at times ..... 8)
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Not heard of Helicodiceros muscivorus before. Is it hardy and does it really eat flies?
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Adarby, like Lesley said it is disgustingly beautifull, like a rottig carcass! They trap flies during some time for pollination purposes. I had never seen it though.
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Anthony,
They're hardy for me (if that is a help to you) and NO, they don't "eat" flies, but are pollinated by them I think, as so many Araceae. ;D
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Thought so. It's just that "muscivore" translates as housefly eater, Musca being the housefly.
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Well if you were watching a fly enter the entrance to the flower then not come out.... I guess you'd be thinking it was eating them. With most of the aroids that use that pollination method the flies are trapped by downwad facing hairs that hold them in the lowr chamber overnight, shriveling by morning and letting the flowers out. During that time the male flowers dehisce (I'm not sure the spelling is right?) their pollen, showering the captives with pollen that is then carried off to the next flower where the fly is trapped with open female flowers to transfer the pollen onto. Given that any fly that goes inside never comes out again (well they do, but only early next morning) I would imagine that people initially thought they ate them. ;D
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Perhaps they should yell "I'm a celebrity fly, let me out of here"? ;D
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A very very nice smelly plant.
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Ooha. Easy there, Peter. I'm positive that last picture could cause night mares in several forumist homes tonight. 8) Good thing most forumists are not under age! You have really caught it in the flesh, so to speak.
Marvellous plant. Is it outside in the rock garden, or do you keep it in doors?
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Sometimes Anthony, it's called (or listed as) Dracunculus muscivorus.
Yes, there is a certain anatomical look to it, and one which we shan't discuss in mixed company thank you.
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And it's nicknamed the "Dead Horse Arum", and not for just the smell!! ;D