On my hike today I was greeted by two medicinal plants. One I had met before on my hikes, skunk cabbage and one I met for the first time, horsetail.
The Skunk cabbage was a beautiful large and vibrant plant, but it was alone and a little out of its element since the swamp waters of the area had been drained. This didn’t seem to stop it from flourishing.
Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus/Dracontium foetidus) is one of the first plants to flourish each spring. It usually is found at the edges of swamps where it generates a chemical heat which melts the winter ice and signal to hibernating animals that it is time to emerge from their sleep. It is from the family Araceae which includes Jack-in-the Pulpits , Arisaema triphyllum ,a plant I enjoy finding on my hikes at the National Colonial Farm in Accokeek , MD. 
Felter, H.W. and Lloyd, J.U. (1898). King’s American Dispensatory . Retrieved from http://www.henriettes-herb.com/eclectic/kings/dracontium.html
Donahue, S. (2010, March 1). Skunk Cabbage: New England Bear Medicine. Retrieved from http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/skunk-cabbage-new-england-bear-medicine.html
Mentzman,H. (2012) Plant Rant: Skunk Cabbage- passing the stink test. Retrieved from https://thegreenfarmacygarden.com/2012/03/08/plant-ranti-smell-a-skunk-cabbage/
Krohn,E. (2013). Horsetail. Retrieved from http://wildfoodsandmedicines.com/horsetail/