Podophyllum peltatum. 13 
plants, with scarcely more than a couple of dozen fruiting speci- 
mens. 
The May-apple is exclusively a native of North America; and is 
found from the northern to the southern boundaries of the United 
States, in great profusion, generally inhabiting moist, rich, and shady 
woods, though not unfrequently met with in open or exposed situa- 
tions, as well as often by the edges of rivulets. It appears, how- 
ever, to delight in moist soil, being always most luxuriant in humid 
places. When it grows in low and very wet or marshy grounds, the 
roots become larger than usual, and quite succulent, so that in ex- 
siccation they lose more than half their diameter. 
Why this plant has received the name of May-apple, it is diffi- 
cult to conjecture, since it only commences flowering, at least in the 
middle and northern states, in the latter part of the month of May, 
and is not in full bloom until the first week in June. ‘Its fruit is not 
mature till the latter part of September, at which time the leaves 
have become faded to a yellow colour, or have entirely fallen off. 
Then is the proper period for collecting the roots for medicinal 
uses; they should be dried and pulverized for use. The Indians 
dry them in the shade. (For Chemical Analysis, see Appendix.) 
