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
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
The sandy soil supports unique plants like skunk cabbage and cinnamon ferns.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 8 July 2021
But also hickory, chestnut, elms and birches, and joe-pye weed, aster, marsh marigold, skunk cabbage, snakeweed.
—Matthew Cicanese and Erika Reiter, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Apr. 2020
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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
The sandy soil supports unique plants like skunk cabbage and cinnamon ferns.
—Susan Degrane, chicagotribune.com, 8 July 2021
But also hickory, chestnut, elms and birches, and joe-pye weed, aster, marsh marigold, skunk cabbage, snakeweed.
—Matthew Cicanese and Erika Reiter, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Apr. 2020
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Cite this Entry
“Skunk cabbage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skunk%20cabbage. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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