Illustration of skunk cabbage
- skunk cabbage b
skunk cabbage
noun
: any of several early-blooming perennial herbs of the arum family that occur in shaded, wet to swampy areas and have a fetid odor suggestive of a skunk:
a
: one (Symplocarpus foetidus) of eastern North America and eastern Asia that has a hoodlike, brownish-purple spathe
b
: one (Lysichiton americanus synonym L. americanum) chiefly of the Pacific coast region of North America that has a large yellow spathe
c
: one (Lysichiton camtschatcensis synonym L. camtschatcense) of eastern Asia that has a large white spathe
Examples of skunk cabbage in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Additional work showed that this gene is present in nearly-identical form in the skunk cabbage genus (Symplocarpus) and another species of plants common in Japan, Eurya japonica.
—
Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 8 May 2025
There’s patches of wetland that teem with skunk cabbage and ferns when the season is right.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 21 Nov. 2024
By the creek, skunk cabbage pokes up reliably from the muck, its speckled, maroon-yellow spathe resembling a jester’s cap.
—Daryln Brewer Hoffstot Kristian Thacker, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
Tobacco plants produce nicotine as an insecticide that deters predators; skunk cabbage and corpse flowers emit the stench of death to trick carrion-feeding insects into becoming their pollinators.
—Barbara Spindel, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023
Other foliage, like the skunk cabbage native to the region, is already in full bloom.
—Dharna Noor, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Feb. 2023
For decades, Disney and Florida politicians have had a symbiotic relationship — kind of like dung beetles and skunk cabbage.
—Orlando Sentinel Staff, Orlando Sentinel, 28 Dec. 2022
Natural foods such as acorns, skunk cabbage and grubs are abundant and bears’ reproductive success and the survivorship of cubs are both high.
—Jesse Leavenworth, courant.com, 25 Mar. 2022
The Fab Five feasted on plants gathered in season from the wild — skunk cabbage, saskatoon berries and dandelions — plus fish, moose and deer.
—New York Times, 23 July 2021
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Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 8 May 2025
There’s patches of wetland that teem with skunk cabbage and ferns when the season is right.
—Christine Condon, Baltimore Sun, 21 Nov. 2024
By the creek, skunk cabbage pokes up reliably from the muck, its speckled, maroon-yellow spathe resembling a jester’s cap.
—Daryln Brewer Hoffstot Kristian Thacker, New York Times, 23 Mar. 2024
Tobacco plants produce nicotine as an insecticide that deters predators; skunk cabbage and corpse flowers emit the stench of death to trick carrion-feeding insects into becoming their pollinators.
—Barbara Spindel, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2023
Other foliage, like the skunk cabbage native to the region, is already in full bloom.
—Dharna Noor, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Feb. 2023
For decades, Disney and Florida politicians have had a symbiotic relationship — kind of like dung beetles and skunk cabbage.
—Orlando Sentinel Staff, Orlando Sentinel, 28 Dec. 2022
Natural foods such as acorns, skunk cabbage and grubs are abundant and bears’ reproductive success and the survivorship of cubs are both high.
—Jesse Leavenworth, courant.com, 25 Mar. 2022
The Fab Five feasted on plants gathered in season from the wild — skunk cabbage, saskatoon berries and dandelions — plus fish, moose and deer.
—New York Times, 23 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Skunk cabbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skunk%20cabbage. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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