Our native Eastern Skunk cabbages grow in the low-lying, boggy areas on the edges of our lake.
The unusual looking buds appear before the vernal equinox, usually when there is still snow on the ground, and are one of the first plants to make their appearance in spring. They're able to make their way up through the snowcover by virtue of thermongenesis, thereby raising local temperatures up to 15–35 °C (27–63 °F) above the air temperature.
The flowers are pollinated by carrion flies. They are visible as greenish-white specks on the round spadix.
The large broad leaves appear after it has finished flowering, and can form large colonies. Snails, slugs and caterpillars feed on the leaves, which die off completely by late summer.
We often don't notice their presence because they're active and visible before our human activities on the lake get started, and their trademark structures are no longer obvious by the time it's warm enough for us to be out on the water. You might notice the fruit if you look carefully though.