Plantsnap – Identify Plants, Trees, Mushrooms With An App

American Skunkcabbage (Lysichiton americanus)

Description

The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 cm or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter. The short-stalked leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 30-150 cm long and 10-70 cm wide when mature. Its flowers are produced in a spadix contained within a 7-12 cm, large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe atop a 30-50 cm stalk. The flowers are numerous and densely packed. It is among the first flowers to bloom in late winter or early spring. Unlike the genus Symplocarpus (which includes S. foetidus, the eastern skunk cabbage), the flowers of Lysichiton species do not produce heat,although this is widely and incorrectly said to be the case.[

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Liliopsida

          • Order: Alismatales

            • Family: Araceae

              • Genus: Lysichiton