Meanings
plural skunk cabbages
- CanadaUScountableuncountableAny 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 and Lysichiton camtschatcense.
It was May before the skunk cabbage began to push up through the ooze of the swamps, before the rhubarb reddened to the back corner of the garden and the spring peepers finally emerged and began abrading the edges of the night with their lovesick vibrato.
1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 297
Synonyms & antonyms
noundeciduous perennial low-growing fetid swamp plant of eastern North America having minute flowers enclosed in a mottled greenish or purple cowl-shaped spathe
nounclump-forming deciduous perennial swamp plant of western North America similar to Symplocarpus foetidus but having a yellow spathe
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From skunk + cabbage, from the strong odor produced when the leaves are broken or torn.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese 臭菘
- 臭菘 (chòusōng)any of several leafy, foul-smelling plants
Persian کلم مرداب
- کلم مرداب (kalam-e mordâb)any of several leafy, foul-smelling plants
Portuguese repolho-gambá
- repolho-gambáany of several leafy, foul-smelling plants
Cite this entry
skunk cabbage. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skunk%20cabbage
“skunk cabbage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skunk%20cabbage. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skunk cabbage,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skunk%20cabbage.
Source: skunk cabbage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.