Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)

For several weeks now speckled maroon and green shoots have been poking up through the ice-covered swampy woods around my house.  Heat generated by the growing flower melts the overlying snow and ice.  Green leaves will soon appear.  All parts of the plant emit an acrid skunky smell.  These first green shoots can be eaten but as it contains high amounts of oxalic acid it must be prepared carefully first.  It has smooth leaves, unlike the more toxic False Hellebore (Veratrum viride) which has creased leaves.  The latter is highly toxic and will cause nausea, vomiting and serious cardiac effects.  I have yet to try skunk cabbage, the smell alone extinguishes my appetite. But I always welcome it as one of the first plants to flower in the spring.