skunk cabbage

Meaning

Noun

• Any of several leafy, foul-smelling plants, especially Symplocarpus foetidus, a low-growing plant native to the wetlands of eastern North America, but also denoting Lysichiton americanus (species) and Lysichiton camtschatcense (species).

Origin

• From skunk + cabbage, from the strong odor produced when the leaves are broken or torn.