In what we are more familiar with as a winter wonderland full of deep powder, Mirkwood Basin in the summertime turns into a lush area full of wildflowers and high-alpine plants.  The lower basin fills up with what I have always known as corn lilies or skunk cabbage.  This plant is also seen in early winter, with its brown stalks poking out above the early winter snow-pack as you slalom your way out the bottom of Mirkwood Bowl.  The leaves do resemble those found in cornfields, but the similarities end there.  No corn to be found here since the corn snow melted away in June.