Here is one sure sign of spring in the Kootenays - this is the plant that I've always called the skunk cabbage. The smell is very much that of a skunk. However, after reading Patrick Lane's gardening memoir, There Is A Season, he refers to this plant as the swamp lantern and I like that name much better. Do you agree? It really does look like a small lantern in the ground. When we first came out from Kokannee Cabin two weeks ago, the place where the helicopter landed had loads of these plants in bloom. In Kaslo, we're at a higher elevation and they finally bloomed this past week. I took this picture on a cloudy day - they look much more "lanternish" on a sunny day. I saw an absolute mass of them near Kootenay Lake on the way into Nelson the other day - now in the midst of a housing development. I wonder if those neighbouring owners refer to the plant as the skunk cabbage or the swamp lantern?
So far, spring has been my favourite season here. The weather is certainly variable, but the numerous shades of green paint a beautiful picture everywhere I look.
2 comments:
I think the "swamp lantern" is indeed a better name, despite my nostaligic connection to the Skunk Cabbage Trail in Mt. Revelstoke NP. :-)
Yes I agree with you & Scott. The swamp lantern is much more romantic plant name although I still think of the Skunk Cabbage trail when I see one. I am glad Scott still has memories of that place - he probably has not been there since he was a kid. We saw lots of lanterns on both Salt Spring and Pender last month
Post a Comment