Index / Search / Symplocarpus foetidus
§1 Plant
Symplocarpus foetidus (L.) Salisb. ex W.P.C. Barton
vernacular skunk cabbage — species · Araceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Monocot
- Family
- Araceae Juss.
- Genus
- Symplocarpus
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 5 counties across 1 state§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Low
- Shade
- Low
- Moisture use
- High
- Salinity
- None
- Anaerobic
- Medium
- CaCO₃
- Low
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -33 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 150 min.
- Precipitation
- 40–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 4–7
- Root depth
- 12 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Moderate
- Porosity (winter)
- Porous
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Fire resistant
- Yes
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Seed abundance
- Low
- Seed begins
- Spring
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 65,000
- Propagation
- seed, bare root
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- No
- Palatable, human
- No
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 5 counties across 1 state.
Rhode Island view state ↗ 5 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/SYFO ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2870117 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z