Environmental Almanac, written by Rob Kanter, describes searching for skunk cabbage. Kanter, along with INHS Wetland Plant Ecologist Rick Larimore, headed out to the Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area in Vermilion County to see this "first flower" of spring. Kanter and Larimore were successful in their quest to find skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage is able to bloom so early in the year because it generates enough heat to grow in the frozen ground. It gets it's name from the rotting flesh smell it exudes to attract ground pollinating insects.