swamp cabbage

Skunk \Skunk\, n. [Contr. from the Abenaki (American Indian)
   seganku.] (Zool.)
   Any one of several species of American musteline carnivores
   of the genus {Mephitis} and allied genera. They have two
   glands near the anus, secreting an extremely fetid liquid,
   which the animal ejects at pleasure as a means of defense.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: The common species of the Eastern United States
         ({Mephitis mephitica}) is black with more or less white
         on the body and tail. The spotted skunk ({Spilogale
         putorius}), native of the Southwestern United States
         and Mexico, is smaller than the common skunk, and is
         variously marked with black and white.
         [1913 Webster]

   {Skunk bird}, {Skunk blackbird} (Zool.), the bobolink; -- so
      called because the male, in the breeding season, is black
      and white, like a skunk.

   {Skunk cabbage} (Bot.), an American aroid herb ({Symplocarpus
      f[oe]tidus}) having a reddish hornlike spathe in earliest
      spring, followed by a cluster of large cabbagelike leaves.
      It exhales a disagreeable odor. Also called {swamp
      cabbage}.

   {Skunk porpoise}. (Zool.) See under {Porpoise}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Swamp \Swamp\, n. [Cf. AS. swam a fungus, OD. swam a sponge, D.
   zwam a fungus, G. schwamm a sponge, Icel. sv["o]ppr, Dan. &
   Sw. swamp, Goth. swamms, Gr. somfo`s porous, spongy.]
   Wet, spongy land; soft, low ground saturated with water, but
   not usually covered with it; marshy ground away from the
   seashore.
   [1913 Webster]

         Gray swamps and pools, waste places of the hern.
                                                  --Tennyson.
   [1913 Webster]

         A swamp differs from a bog and a marsh in producing
         trees and shrubs, while the latter produce only
         herbage, plants, and mosses.             --Farming
                                                  Encyc. (E.
                                                  Edwards,
                                                  Words).
   [1913 Webster]

   {Swamp blackbird}. (Zool.) See {Redwing}
   (b) .

   {Swamp cabbage} (Bot.), skunk cabbage.

   {Swamp deer} (Zool.), an Asiatic deer ({Rucervus Duvaucelli})
      of India.

   {Swamp hen}. (Zool.)
   (a) An Australian azure-breasted bird ({Porphyrio bellus});
       -- called also {goollema}.
   (b) An Australian water crake, or rail ({Porzana Tabuensis});
       -- called also {little swamp hen}.
   (c) The European purple gallinule.

   {Swamp honeysuckle} (Bot.), an American shrub ({Azalea
      viscosa} syn. {Rhododendron viscosa} or {Rhododendron
      viscosum}) growing in swampy places, with fragrant flowers
      of a white color, or white tinged with rose; -- called
      also {swamp pink} and {white swamp honeysuckle}.

   {Swamp hook}, a hook and chain used by lumbermen in handling
      logs. Cf. {Cant hook}.

   {Swamp itch}. (Med.) See {Prairie itch}, under {Prairie}.

   {Swamp laurel} (Bot.), a shrub ({Kalmia glauca}) having small
      leaves with the lower surface glaucous.

   {Swamp maple} (Bot.), red maple. See {Maple}.

   {Swamp oak} (Bot.), a name given to several kinds of oak
      which grow in swampy places, as swamp Spanish oak
      ({Quercus palustris}), swamp white oak ({Quercus
      bicolor}), swamp post oak ({Quercus lyrata}).

   {Swamp ore} (Min.), bog ore; limonite.

   {Swamp partridge} (Zool.), any one of several Australian game
      birds of the genera {Synoicus} and {Excalfatoria}, allied
      to the European partridges.

   {Swamp robin} (Zool.), the chewink.

   {Swamp sassafras} (Bot.), a small North American tree of the
      genus {Magnolia} ({Magnolia glauca}) with aromatic leaves
      and fragrant creamy-white blossoms; -- called also {sweet
      bay}.

   {Swamp sparrow} (Zool.), a common North American sparrow
      ({Melospiza Georgiana}, or {Melospiza palustris}), closely
      resembling the song sparrow. It lives in low, swampy
      places.

   {Swamp willow}. (Bot.) See {Pussy willow}, under {Pussy}.
      [1913 Webster]