Cornfield

A long walk through the swamps again. It was 40 degrees when we took off but the forecast high was to be in the 60's. By taking off early I hoped to be through before the ticks warmed up enough to be active. We took the shortcut along the old railroad right-of-way. I was specifically looking for skunk cabbage. As I've said before, this plant is suppose to generate it's own heat and be one of the first plants in the spring to come up, sometimes even through snow cover. Once again though I couldn't find it. It's not that I don't know what it looks like since it has rather distinctive leaves. Couldn't be that I was looking in the wrong place because I've found it later in the spring coming up in the same places year after year. Plus there are plenty of other plants that start coming up much earlier than skunk cabbage. I did find the very beginnings of cow slips (a/k/a marsh marigolds) and the tips of flag (a/k/a wild iris). Not sure why there is a difference between what I observe and what is written by experts.At least I remembered to wear just a short-sleeved t-shirt this time so was at least comfy while I searched for the elusive skunk cabbage.