Steemit Photo Challenge - Entry #3 [SPC30 Flowers] - Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Spadix within Spathe)

For my third and final submission to SPC30, I present to you a freshly-photographed pre-Spring Eastern skunk cabbage flower.

I was walking through the woods at the Thompson Park Longbridge Annex near the Swimming River Reservoir and came upon a marshy (i.e. yucky, mucky) section that had plenty of Eastern skunk cabbage brewing.

Skunk cabbages run hot and they have a unique ability to self-generate their own heat by a process called cyanide resistant cellular respiration. This helps the skunk cabbage to melt the frozen ground and begin to emerge in late winter.

According to Wikipedia:

Eastern skunk cabbage is notable for its ability to generate temperatures of up to 15–35 °C (27–63 °F) above air temperature by cyanide resistant cellular respiration in order to melt its way through frozen ground, placing it among a small group of plants exhibiting thermogenesis. Even though it flowers while there is still snow and ice on the ground, it is successfully pollinated by early insects that also emerge at this time.

While the characteristic large green leaves come later in the season, what you see in these photos are the spathe and spadix.

• Spathe: The curled up leaf that wraps around and protects the flower in a hood-like fashion. The spathe of an Eastern skunk cabbage is typically a dark maroon or mottled/speckled maroon-yellow combination.

• Spadix: The round, brain-like structure within the spathe that contains lots of tiny flowers.

Here's a Steemit post I submitted back on November 15, 2016 about Eastern skunk cabbage:

• Eastern Skunk Cabbage - [The Urge to Emerge]

And if you're still hungry for more skunk cabbage knowledge, I highly recommend this great article written by Joel Springsteen:

• urbanecologycenter.org: Native Plant: Eastern Skunk Cabbage

NOTE: The final three images in this post are shown for context only and are not submissions to SPC30.

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All images @cognoscere and taken on 02/22/2017 at the Thompson Park Longbridge Annex in Lincroft, New Jersey (Sony RX100 V)