Blossoming skunk cabbage?

Hello,
We encountered these skunk cabbage poking through the gravel trail at Lucia Nash. To our surprise, we noticed the blossoms within. What function do they serve, if any? Propagation? Anything else?
I've normally enjoyed skunk cabbage from a distance, usually tightly wound or unfurled. This was the first time I could look inside and see a blossom.
Thanks.

Aren’t skunk cabbages awesome?!

(I’ll confess, they’re my favorite wildflowers.)

The “surprise inside” of skunk cabbages is the plant’s flower itself.  It’s one of the earliest-blooming wildflowers in our area, and its trademark stinky odor is intended to attract carrion-feeding flies and gnats to help pollinate the plants.

By late summer, this fruiting body part of the skunk cabbage will drop a crop of seeds, which are then dispersed by water and wildlife.

If you want to read more, the University of Wisconsin’s extension has an article with some terrific photos.

Thanks for sharing your photos, too!

-Naturalist Chris Mentrek