Eastern skunk Cabbage spathes have been emerging through the ice and frozen ground for at least a week here. As usual, these are the first wild annual plants of the new year to break ground.
However, the above yellow variation is not usual; the usual color of the spathes is a mottled purple, as shown below. The Jester hat-like spathes are protective housings for the plant’s flowers, which grow out of a pin cushion-like growth (a “spadix”) hidden inside the hat.
The plant (Symplocarpus foetidus) is one of a very few plants that has evolved the ability to metabolically generate considerable internal heat, which enables it to get a jump on competitors before spring arrives. Skunk cabbages have been reported to have raised the temperature of the flowers in their spathes to 71.6˚ F (22˚C), even when the surrounding temperatures are freezing.
Not only does that heat keep the flower from freezing, but it also is thought to attract and shelter the earliest pollinators, which crawl into the side opening of the spathe for a little refreshment as well as protection, then leave and help propagate the species. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 15, 2025.)