The solitary, nodding flower with an unpleasant odor rises on a stalk above a whorl of three broadly ovate, diamond-shaped leaves. Leaves to 7 in (17.5 cm) long; dark green. Flowers about 2.5 in (6.3 cm) wide; petals maroon or reddish brown; sepals green. Fruit is oval reddish berry. Height: 8-16 in (20-40 cm).
Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia; south to New England, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and, in the mountains, to Georgia; west to Tennessee; north to Michigan.
Early herbalists used this ill-scented plant to treat gangrene, since they believed plants were used to cure the ailments they resembled.