Re: REJOICE

Auralie,
From the description I can see why it would have made a good contraceptive
device.
I am not enamored of Amorphophallus, those quirky stinkers that PDN
specializes in.  Arisaemas I find interesting, but only have one - got it
free I think.  Your article is quite enlightening and fascinating, but I
think I'll pass on Skunk Cabbage for now.

Kitty
neIN, Z5
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Aplfgcnys@aol.com>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Monday, May 09, 2005 6:17 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] REJOICE


> In a message dated 05/09/2005 6:41:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> 4042N15@nationalhearing.com writes:
> > > Donna kindly sent me a picture of skunk cabbage.  I think it's one of
> > > those
> > > plants that has to sort of grow on you, but it is interesting.  And I
> just
> > > love that self-protection temperature-control thing it has going..
> > >
> Kitty, I'm astonished that you don't know skunk cabbage.
> Here is a piece I did for my club's newsletter a couple of
> years ago.  It may be more than you want to know about
> the subject - so just dump it if it is.
>
>
>     Howeverb& We have our own native Arums, and they are really much more
> attractive, and in a quiet way almost as exotic.  We all know and love
> Jack-in-the-Pulpit, or Arisaema triphyllum.  This attractive native is
much
> more
> manageable in size and lacks the unpleasant odor.  A. dracontium, or Green
> Dragon, on
> the NYS Protected Plant List, is somewhat more exotic in appearance.  And
then
> there is Symplocarpus foetidus, or Skunk Cabbage, that can match the
> Amorphophallus genus in oddity and fragrance but is much more modest in
size.
>
>
>   Skunk Cabbage, is the very first sign of spring, often coming up right
> through the snow. It shares with itbs near relatives in the Amorphopallus
> genus
> the odor which is attractive to insects but not to humans. Also, the
reddish
> color of the newly-emerged plant resembles meat and helps to attract
carrion
> flies.  This smell, of course, accounts for the common name, and also for
the
> species name, foetidus, which means bevil smelling.b
>    The inconspicuous flowers are borne on a knoblike spadix hidden within
a
> mottled green and purple hoodlike spathe. The genus name is from Greek
words
> meaning bconnected fruitb and refers to the fruiting stalk which is the
> result
> of the ovaries growing together.   As the skunk cabbage spathe grows, it
> produces heat.  Temperatures within the buds of the plant have been
recorded
> to be
> 27o F. warmer than that of the surrounding air.  This helps protect the
bud
> from very cold weather and intensifies the odor, making it more attractive
to
> pollinators which include some of springbs earliest flying insects;
flies,
> beetles and bees.
>   The luxuriant foliage that follows later can make an attractive
background
> for ferns and other moisture-loving plants in a damp area of the garden.
It
> has also been used in flower arrangements.  If conditioned by total
immersion
> in a tub or large pan, it loses its faint bskunkyb scent and has an
> attractive
> color and texture.
>   Like Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) another plant without honor in its home
> country but prized abroad, Skunk Cabbage has been admired in European
gardens
> since John Bartram, the Philadelphia botanist, and friend of Ben Franklin
sent
> specimens to the London Natural History Museum in the 1740s.
>    Native Americans made the raw root of Skunk Cabbage into a salve to
> relieve the pain and swelling of arthritis.  Boiled, the root was used in
a
> cough
> syrup.  Skunk Cabbage was listed in the U.S.Pharmacopea in the 19th
century,
> and
> is still listed on a Holistic Medicine website as treatment for
tuberculosis
> whooping cough, asthma, and various other bronchial and lung disorders.
At
> one time it was considered as a contraceptive, and also thought to cure
> venereal
> disease.
>     Although Skunk Cabbage is listed as a poisonous plant in a North
Carolina
> State University website, recipes are given for preparing it to eat. The
> young, uncurled leaves should be cooked for 20 minutes, changing the water
at
> least twice and replacing with fresh, boiling, salted water. These are
served
> like
> other bspring greens.b  The roots are very bitter and burning in their
raw
> state.  Peeled, cut into small pieces and roasted in an oven for an hour,
they
> may be ground into a flour and added to bread dough or muffin batter.
>   Other species in the large and unusual Arum family are Alocasias,
> Anthriums, Callas, Caladiums, Colocasias, Dieffenbachias, Philodendrons,
and
> Spathiphyllums.
>
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