Skunk Cabbage is the first flower of spring in my neck of the woods. It may come up in February. It's able to generate heat and melt the snow around it. It has a spathe much like a Jack-in-the-Pulpit. Like most early flowering plants, it has a very disagreeable oder to attract flies to pollinate it. The flower is a yellow ball inside of the spathe. You can just see it's tip. The spear next to the spathe is the beginning of the leaves. The leaves are very graphic and wonderful to photograph as well. Other early flowering wildflowers which you might find the same time as skunk cabbage are hepatica and spring beauties. With the very warm early spring temperatures, the flowers are much earlier and probably won't last as long unless it cools down some. Last year we were under 18" of snow at this time due to a rare late noreaster. We never know what to expect from year to year.