Araceae
Skunk cabbage
Symplocarpus foetidus
- Family
- Araceae
- Genus
- Symplocarpus
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Common names
By language (15)
- Arabic
- كرنب نتن
- Chinese
- 臭菘, 臭菘叶, 臭菘种子, 黑瞎子白菜
- Czech
- Skunkovka páchnoucí
- English
- Skunk cabbage, Clumpfoot Cabbage, Eastern skunk Cabbage, Foetid pothos, Meadow Cabbage, Polecat Weed or Swamp Cabbage
- Finnish
- Suohaisuhuppu
- Icelandic
- Skunkakál
- Japanese
- ザゼンソウ, ざぜん草, 座禅草, 達磨草
- Korean
- 앉은부채
- pdc
- Bisskatzegraut
- Persian
- کلم مرداب
- Polish
- Skupnia
- Russian
- Связноплодник вонючий, Связноплодник зловонный, Симплокарпус вонючий, Симплокарпус зловонный
- Slovenian
- Smrdeči simplokarp
- Spanish
- Ictodes, Spathyema
- Swedish
- Björnkalla
Synonyms
- Dracontium foetidum L.
- Ictodes foetidus (L.) Bigelow
- Pothos foetidus (L.) Aiton
- Pothos putorii Barton
- Spathyema angusta Raf.
- Spathyema foetida (L.) Raf.
- Spathyema lanceolata Raf.
- Spathyema latifolia Raf.
Flowers
- In flower
- March to April (from 5,367 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
- Flower colour
- purple (USDA PLANTS Database)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- In the US and Canada
- Canada: native, Lower 48 states: native
Photos

Photo: Sue Sweeney., CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
More in Symplocarpus
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.