(WKBN) — Ohio’s first blooming wildflower of the year was spotted a short drive from the Valley, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources announced Wednesday morning.
A skunk cabbage bloom was found at Eagle Creek State Nature Preserve, within an hour’s drive from Youngstown in Portage County. While Valley residents may notice the first sprouting greens of spring flowers such as daffodils or crocuses, this thermogenic flower is already in bloom.
The flowering plant is aptly named for the huge, foul-smelling leaves it produces during maturing in the late spring and summer. For now, though, the plant can be identified by its greenish-white flowers on club-like spadix within a purple-spotted hood — pictured below.
It can be found across the state in areas with soggy soil of wooded wetlands, though it is scarce along the Ohio river, according to ODNR…