Skunk Cabbage

Thanks to those of you who chimed in to identify this plant. I got a few responses, and after looking at pictures, I think the Queen Pauline got it right--skunk cabbage. Now you know.

I found these plants while walking around the Schwartz house in upstate New York. I know many plants, but I haven't been able to identify these. I'm curious by nature, and these things look out of something from "The Little Shoppe of Horrors." They were growing in a low-lying, marshy area, and were probably bigger than my hand.