What ephemerals can expect to see in our forests now?
Last week, bloodroot (Sanguinaria), took center stage, but another spring ephemeral flowers even earlier: Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).
This fascinating plant often flowers in late February, the first of the spring ephemerals to bloom in Maryland’s Piedmont Region.
Though a native plant, skunk cabbage can still grow aggressively as this patch in Virginia demonstrates.
Found in wetlands and along streambanks, this native plant evolved during the Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million years ago, when dinosaurs were at their peak.
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