SKUNK-CABBAGE.
Lysichiton Camtschatcensis, Schott. Arum Family.
Rootstock.—Thick; horizontal. Leaves.—All radical; oblong-lanceolate; acute; one to three feet or more long; three to ten inches broad; narrowed to a short petiole or sessile. Flowers.—Small, crowded on a spadix, at the summit of a stout peduncle becoming six to twelve inches long. Spadix.—With an erect, spoon-shaped spathe, one and one-half to two feet long; bright yellow. Perianth.—Four-lobed. Stamens.—Four. Filaments short, flat. Ovary.—Conical; two-celled. Stigma depressed. Fruit.—Fleshy, coalescent and sunk in the rachis. Hab.—Peat bogs; from Mendocino County northward to Alaska; also, perhaps, in the Rocky Mountains.
In our northwestern counties, before the frost is entirely out of the ground, the leaves of the skunk-cabbage may be seen pushing their way up through the standing water of marshy localities. They soon attain a great size, and resemble the leaves of the banana-tree. They are of a rich velvet-green, slightly mottled, and are said to rival some of the tropical productions of our greenhouses.
There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the disagreeableness of these leaves. I suspect the odor lies mostly in the slimy, soapy sap, and is not very noticeable if they are not bruised or cut.
When the plants are in bloom, in May and June, they are very handsome, the large spoon-shaped, golden spathes being conspicuous at some distance. As this spathe withers away, the flower-stalk continues to grow, and its little greenish-yellow blossoms become brown.
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The peppery root is highly esteemed for medicinal purposes, and is gathered and made into a salve, which is considered a specific for ringworm, white swelling, inflammatory rheumatism, etc. The root is said to enter largely into the composition of a patent medicine called "Skookum."
Mr. Johnson, of the U.S. Forestry Department in Oregon, tells me that the bears are very fond of this root, and dig industriously for it, often making a hole large enough to bury themselves, and he mentions having seen whole fields plowed up by them in their search for it.
This plant belongs to the same family as the skunk-cabbage of the East and the calla-lily. It has been found in the Santa Cruz Mountains.