You ve just encountered skunk cabbage a plant that actually generates enough heat to melt the snow around it. The skunk cabbage blooms long before any other spring wildflower. It also looks very different from most other wildflowers. The spadix looks fuzzy because it is crowded with tiny flowers with no petals. Its bad odor attracts bees, flies, and gnats which pollinate it.
Large leaves emerge later and grow to the size of rhubarb leaves.