Mayapple or Mandrake ( Podophyllum peltatum L.)

1. Mayapple or Mandrake(Podophyllum peltatum L.) Family: Berberidaceae (bear-ber-id-AY-see-ay) Berberis is the Latinized form of the Arabian name for the barberry fruit. A member of the Berberis (barberry) genus. Genus: Podophyllum (po-do-FIL-um) Means with stout or thick leaf or petiole Species: peltatum (pel-TAY-tum) Round shield, referring to shape of leaf and position of stalk in center of leaf

2. Mayapple or Mandrake Other common names include the mandrake, May apple and May-apple, umbrella plant, duck’s foot, ground lemon, hog apple, American mandrake, devil’s apple, Indian apple, wild lemon, Bajialian and raccoon berry. The Mayapple or Mandrake Root is a perennial in the barberry family. It is native to northeastern North America and has been used medicinally for hundreds of years by 1st Nations peoples to treat constipation, wart removal, rheumatism and liver disorders as well as a laxative. It is presently being studied for its possible treatment of leukemia.

3. May Apple The yellow-green, maple-like leaflets are deeply lobed and are large, umbrella-like when they first appear each spring. The leaf stalk arises from the ground. Flowering plants have two large leaves, non-flowering ones have one. The leaf stalk can be about 37 cm tall. The stem is located underground and is called a rhizome.

4. Mayapple There is a single white flower with a pale yellow centre. It has no stalk but grow from the axil of two long-stalked leaflets. It is usually well hidden under the large leaves on a nodding stem. It flowers early in the spring but most of the plants do not flower in any given year.

5. May Apple The ripe fruits are yellow and soft and edible, but in limited quantity. The fruit have a lemon-like flavour and historically have been used to make jams, jellies and marmalade. The leaves, roots and unripe fruits are greenish and not soft and slightly poisonous as well as strongly cathartic. Eating the unripe fruit could result in coma, diarrhea, headache, fever, salivation or vomiting.

6. Mayapple In Altona Forest, Mayapple forms a carpet over the forest floor in a number of locations. One of these is along the parking lot trail near the first rest station.

7. May Apple The Mayapple, which is often called American mandrake, is different from European mandrake with different properties and different uses. Podophyllum (sometimes called podophyllin) is a resin from mayapple roots and rhizomes. Podophyllum can be used mainly to remove warts and is definitely not safe to take by mouth. Experiments are on-going in the area of treating certain forms of cancer. As a herbal supplement, it is available in capsule form in some health food stores. 1st Nations people used the ground powdered rhizomes in the autumn as a laxative or to get rid of intestinal worms and as a poultice to treat warts and tumorous growths on the skin. MORE ON THE EUROPEAN MANDRAKE A – CLICK HERE

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