7/14/2023 0 Comments Leaf guide michigan![]() The flowers produce no nectar but attracts pollinating insects such as flies and beetles with an unpleasant smell similar to rotting meat – interestingly bees (including honeybees) often visit this flower in early spring to gather pollen. ![]() The spathe varies in color from green to reddish-brown or purple often with streaks or spots. The bloom consist of a fleshy spathe (hood) enclosing a circular spadix that bears small pollen covered flowers. The plant is named for its large cabbage-like leaves that definitely have a skunk smell when crushed. Skunk Cabbage ( Symplocarpus foetidus) is normally our first wildflower of the year. These flowers are being shared in three installments and are presented in no particular order With that in mind we want to share some of the flowers that you can expect to find over the next couple months. Because of this biodiversity, it is possible to find more than 200 species of wildflowers in Central Michigan during any given year. This means we can sometimes find species that grow along the Gulf Coast growing next to species that would be comfortable growing in the boreal forests of subarctic Canada. The junction of natural communities means that our region is blessed with innumerable ecotones – transitional zones where the characteristics of immediately adjacent ecosystems and natural communities intermingle or intergrade. Distribution of some of the natural communities of Michigan This can be seen by looking at maps that show the distribution of natural communities across our state. This means that we live on a boundary between species that grow primarily to our south and those that grow primarily to our north. By the sheer luck of geography, we live in an area known as a climatic tension zone – a narrow zone where many species reach the limits of their range due to climatic factors. When it comes to an abundance of wildflower species, the people that reside in the Chippewa River watershed are truly lucky.
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