Alien-looking plant that smells like skunky garlic blooming in Toronto
Don't you just love the spring? The feeling of sun on your face after the cold and dark months of winter, the sound of birds chirping, the smell of... skunk and garlic?
While there are plenty of pleasant sensations one might associate with spring, the blooming of the stinky, alien-looking swamp plant known as Skunk Cabbage is likely not one of them.
Before you go bashing this intriguing bloom that sounds like something you might pick up at a Kensington Market dispensary, though, you should know that it's also a kind of cool plant.
Taking up residence in swampy wooded areas around the city, Skunk Cabbage — whose scientific name is Symplocarpus foetius — earns its name by producing a pungent aroma that attracts pollinators.
With a beaklike bud that pokes up through the snow, the plant begins blooming in early spring, thanks to its thermogenic (self-heating) properties, which allow the plant to maintain temperatures of up to 25 °C.
One of the earliest perennials to bloom, the plant's yellow flowers typically poke up in March or April, followed by green leaves a week later, so it's about time that Toronto residents begin to see and smell Skunk Cabbage popping up around the city.
Tulips this, peonies that. Spring is full of pleasantly pungent blossoms, but I think that the city's less sweet-smelling (maybe sweat-smelling is more apt for Skunk Cabbage) deserve their recognition, too.
While you may not want to be receiving a bouquet of Skunk Cabbage, it's certainly a plant that you should keep an eye (and nose) out for on your next spring hike.
