Skunk cabbage
General poisoning notes:
Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus
foetidus) is a robust native herb found in wet marshy areas in parts of
eastern Canada. Ingesting the plant can cause intense pain and irritation in
the mouth area after chewing the roots or leaves (Lampe and McCann 1985). No
case reports of such irritation were found in the literature for humans or
livestock.
Description
Roots fleshy,
contractile. Rhizomes thick, to 30 cm or more. Leaves: petiole sheathed basally,
5--57 cm; blade thick, 10--60´ 7--40 cm; primary lateral veins parallel,
branching apically, interprimary veins anastomosing. Inflorescences at ground
level; spathe hoodlike, 6--13(--18) cm, fleshy, apex acuminate, twisted or
incurved, not persisting in fruit; spadix short-stipitate, somewhat flattened
dorsiventrally, 2--3´ 1.5--3 cm. Flowers covering spadix; tepals 4, yellowish
to dark red-purple; stamens 4, dehiscing longitudinally; ovaries 1-locular;
ovules 1. Infructescences dark purple-green to dark red-brown, globose to
oblong or ovoid, 4--7(--10) cm. Seeds brown, 7--15 mm diam. 2n = 60.
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Symplocarpus foetidus (L.)
Nutt.
Vernacular
name(s): skunk cabbage
Scientific family
name: Araceae
Vernacular family
name: arum
Geographic Information
New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Quebec.
Toxic parts:
Leaves, roots.
Toxic plant chemicals:
Oxalate.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an
animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993)
contained no detailed explanation.
Humans
General symptoms of
poisoning:
Aphonia,
dysphagia, hoarseness, mouth, irritation of.
1 Comment:
stunk
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