Just a word of warning. This time of year, the bears begin to look for fresh greens, and this plant (which I photographed in the boggy forest south of our house this morning) is a favorite, my husband told me.

One showing detail

A crowd

This is the western (yellow-flowered) variety, (Lysichitum americanum). Singly the smell is not bad, but when find a group of them, they have a definite skunky smell. They belong to the arum family.

Friends tell me raccoons like them too.

Anyhow, I thought I'd taste a leaf. I nibbled a bit at the edge, and it was tangy and tasty!

Then I noticed an odd sensation. Kind of stinging. So I spat out the bit of greenery. But the sensation got stronger, and my tongue began to get numb!

So I thought, this is either like Dumb Cane, or I'm very allergic. So I hurried back to the house and got on the 'net. Sure enough, it's poisonous, technically, due to oxalate crystals. But it's rarely fatal. I just got a little, so I'm okay.

Wikipedia

So maybe you shouldn't eat it. My husband further advises:

* Don't eat stuff just because bears eat it. Western black bears are well adapted to local plants, and we may not be.

* Don't eat stuff without checking if it's poisonous first.

Thanks for the timely advice babs ..I'll be sure to stay away from this plant

That grows as a weed where you are? I think I have seen it in flower beds around here and people tending it pulling the weeds and leaving that.

But I haven't seen a single bear around here.

quote:

Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
But I haven't seen a single bear around here.

Well, yeah! The people who domesticated the wild arum lily chased away the bears that ate it.

quote:

Originally posted by DvdGStwrt:
That grows as a weed where you are? I think I have seen it in flower beds..

Yeh well, I think it masquerades as a flower.

[From the Wipedia link]
" its roots are food for bears who eat it after hibernating, as a laxative "

Babs, I hope you have lots of woods around your place

Yes, the bears are very considerate.

Except when our grapes are ripe. You absolutely would not believe the size of the piles of grape-seeds we find quite close to the vines. I will take a photo this year -- because if I merely described them, you would not believe me.

quote:

as a laxative

...lol...and you said you ate some???

Well, I've learned to avoid skunk cabbage in the future. Other than the bear laxative, I don't think it has any use. Maybe you could burn it as a fuel source in a coal furnace...I GOT IT! If you have a neighbor whose pets are driving you crazy, just plant some in their yard. When they cut the grass, it will drive their pets wild and they may even run away! It might be best not to do it to a close neighbor, though. I'd go at least 6 or 7 houses away.

Lucky I didn't eat the ROOTS!

I suppose after spending months in hibernation a laxative would be a welcome thing. I saw a wildlife show once and it reported that bear dens are not full of poo, as you might expect. But everybody knows they eat a WHOLE LOT all autumn. So I guess just before they hibernate they have a big feed of grapes, then they leave this humongous pile of PRODUCT near someone's house, just as a visiting card, "Look after those grapes, I'll be back next year," then they hibernate and don't poo, then come out and eat skunk cabbage root, then poo whatever they've had in them all winter which by that time must have the consistency of a chunk of hematite since they don't drink either when they're hibernating. Then they go back and eat skunk cabbage leaves for vitamins and resume their normal routine.

Actually I hadn't really meant to speculate to quite that extent. But you know how one thing leads to another.

Just don't palnt the mean old Skunk Cabbage to close to your nice Box Hedges...I hear they don't get on well.

The skunk cabbages were there first! They're a native!

My nerdy kid was just telling me that the heat can cause little fires on the plants. Be careful not to plant them too close to the garage. The whole thing could burn down.