> I differ with you about skunk cabbage. We have a lot of it down by
> the creek and it isn't up yet.

From http://hometown.aol.com/ag2web/flowers/fl_p1.htm
"Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus feotidus) is typically a very early spring
blossom...  In wet places near streams, the fleshy, dark red hoods push up,
barely noticeable among the dead leaves.  The actual blossoms are sheltered
inside.

Foul-smelling when stepped on or broken, skunk cabbage is pollinated by
early bees and by flies. Recent research shows that parts of the plant
generate heat as they come up, perhaps helping the plant to grow through
snow or to attract its pollinators. A few weeks after the blossoms appear,
the familiar green leaves unfurl and grow large."

Skunk cabbage is a safe bet for the earliest pollen bees find in the spring.
It's not up in my parts (upstate New York) but is a likely candidate for the
area from whence the original query came.

Aaron Morris - thinking think twice before challenging the master!