Description: My illustration of the swamp cabbage. These hooded flowers have the creep factor nailed from looks to smell. Symplocarpus foetidus is known by many names: Skunk Cabbage, Clumpfoot Cabbage, Meadow Cabbage, Polecat Weed, and Swamp Cabbage. It is a stinky, smelly plant that grows in the wetlands in North America and parts of Asia. It flowers just above the mud keeping its stem buried below the surface. It’s a thermogenic plant, which means it has the ability to raise its temperature above that of the surrounding air. This allows it to melt snow and ice so it may bloom.