Field Trip: Skunk Cabbage Walk at Franklin Creek
Skunk Cabbage Walk at Franklin Creek
Saturday, March 2
1:00-4:30 p.m. (Carpool 1:00 p.m.)
Carpool from the Forreston Municipal lot (on the south side of the village library)
Coordinator: Mary Blackmore
815-938-3204
Join us as we leisurely stroll the hard-surfaced paths at the Franklin Creek State Natural Area in northern Lee County looking for that wetland harbinger of spring, Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). Restrooms are available just off the parking area.
If there is any snow cover, sometimes heat from the growing Skunk Cabbage melts a circle of snow around the emerging plant. On past trips we have been able to see the beginning of flowering on the spadix inside the distinctively mottled brown and yellow-green spathe. This is a fascinating plant!
Predicting plant emergence is an educated guess; be sure to sign up for this trip so that Mary can contact you if cancellation is necessary. Carpool from the Forreston Municipal lot (on the south side of the village library) at 1 p.m.