The leaves of the eastern skunk cabbage plants (Symplocarpus foetidus) here are starting to swirl up and some already are beginning to fan out.
They soon will be large, magnificent green plumes that most animals will leave alone because of the leaves’ oxalate content, which can cause severe mouth-burning pain. Nonetheless, black bears and snapping turtles have been observed eating the plant’s leaves soon after the animals came out of their hibernation. (It’s thought by some researchers that the bears eat the noxious leaves for the projectile laxative effect they have on months of bear bowel buildup.)
We wonder whether a bear or snapper did the damage shown in this image:
You see there the exposed “spadix” (flowerhead) of a skunk cabbage amidst its destroyed “spathe” (pixie-hatted protective enclosure for the spadix). That indecent exposure at least allows us to see the plant’s flowerhead, which usually is mostly hidden inside the spathe. It also may save pollinators some time and trouble, if the spadix survives exposure. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 19, 2023.)