DCHP-1 Online

skunk cabbage † 

• 1 a variety of arum, Symplocarpus foetidus, of eastern North America, characterized by its giving off a strong odor when bruised.

  • 1860  Those which are commonly called the _{FIRST FLOWERS} of spring, are the Mayflower, the Skunk Cabbage, and the Hepatica.
  • 1959  April had turned into May and the world was bright and clear: cool air and warm sun, a powder of buds on the hardwoods, fields of skunk cabbage green against the heavy viridian of spruce and fir. . . .

• 2 a plant of the Rocky Mountain region, Lysichiton camtschatensis, so called because of its resemblance to the skunk cabbage of the East.

  See also: skunk lily  

  • 1869  Barnston skinned the "bar" and cutting off a ham, plastered it thickly with mud, skunk cabbage leaves, and more mud, then put it in the fire for an hour and a half, when we found it a dish fit for a king.
  • 1960  The Victoria Natural History Society delightedly announced that . . . skunk cabbage also had made their appearance--ten days to two weeks ahead of schedule.