Mayapple :: Botany

Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum is most commonly known as the mayapple, but in various regions it is also known as Devil's apple, hog apple, Indian apple, umbrella plant, wild lemon, and American mandrake (though it should not be confused with true mandrake, Mandragora officinarum, an unrelated Old World plant whose roots have been used throughout history for medicines and potions). The plant gets its generic name from the Greek words podos and phyllon, meaning foot shaped leaves. Peltatum means shield-like. Mayapple is a well know rhizomatous herb that grows in gregarious groups in the oak-hickory forests all over the eastern United States and Southern Canada. The root is composed of many thick tubers, fastened together by fleshy fibres which spreads greatly underground, sending out many small fibers at the joints, which strike downward. The stems are solitary mostly branched, one to two feet high, crowned with two large, smooth leaves, stalked, peltate in the center like an umbrella the size of a human hand. It is sometimes called "umbrella plant" because the first sign of it in early spring is a short looking like a closed "umbrella". It's composed of five to seven wedge shaped divisions some what lobed and toothed at the apex. It has a whitish nodding flowers with parts in whorls of three between palmately dissected peltated leaves, about two inches across. The plant flowers from March to May, and fruits ripen from May to August. When it falls off, the fruit then develops, swells to the size and shape of the common rosehip, being one to two inches long. It is yellow in color and is sweet, though slightly acidic. The leaves and roots are poisonous. The foliage and stems have been used as a pot-herb. The Mayapple loves company and can be found growing in warm, sheltered spots, such as partially shaded borders, woods, and marshes, liking a light, loamy soil. It requires no other culture than to be kept clear of weeds, and is so hardy as to be seldom injured by frost. Mayapple is an easy-to-grow perennial and can quickly crowd out weaker plants. Large colonies develop from long, creeping rhizomes. The mayapple is perennial plant in the barberry family (Berberidaceae). The plants long, thin rhizome is the most poisonous part, but also the most useful (since the 1820's the plant has been recognized as being of medicinal value in the official U.S.A Pharmacopoeia) because it contains high concentrations of the compounds podophyllotoxin and alpha and beta peltatin, all of which have anti-cancer properties. Mayapple :: Botany Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum is most commonly known as the mayapple, but in various regions it is also known as Devil's apple, hog apple, Indian apple, umbrella plant, wild lemon, and American mandrake (though it should not be confused with true mandrake, Mandragora officinarum, an unrelated Old World plant whose roots have been used throughout history for medicines and potions). The plant gets its generic name from the Greek words podos and phyllon, meaning foot shaped leaves. Peltatum means shield-like. Mayapple is a well know rhizomatous herb that grows in gregarious groups in the oak-hickory forests all over the eastern United States and Southern Canada. The root is composed of many thick tubers, fastened together by fleshy fibres which spreads greatly underground, sending out many small fibers at the joints, which strike downward. The stems are solitary mostly branched, one to two feet high, crowned with two large, smooth leaves, stalked, peltate in the center like an umbrella the size of a human hand. It is sometimes called "umbrella plant" because the first sign of it in early spring is a short looking like a closed "umbrella". It's composed of five to seven wedge shaped divisions some what lobed and toothed at the apex. It has a whitish nodding flowers with parts in whorls of three between palmately dissected peltated leaves, about two inches across. The plant flowers from March to May, and fruits ripen from May to August. When it falls off, the fruit then develops, swells to the size and shape of the common rosehip, being one to two inches long. It is yellow in color and is sweet, though slightly acidic. The leaves and roots are poisonous. The foliage and stems have been used as a pot-herb. The Mayapple loves company and can be found growing in warm, sheltered spots, such as partially shaded borders, woods, and marshes, liking a light, loamy soil. It requires no other culture than to be kept clear of weeds, and is so hardy as to be seldom injured by frost. Mayapple is an easy-to-grow perennial and can quickly crowd out weaker plants. Large colonies develop from long, creeping rhizomes. The mayapple is perennial plant in the barberry family (Berberidaceae). The plants long, thin rhizome is the most poisonous part, but also the most useful (since the 1820's the plant has been recognized as being of medicinal value in the official U.S.A Pharmacopoeia) because it contains high concentrations of the compounds podophyllotoxin and alpha and beta peltatin, all of which have anti-cancer properties.