235 



MAY-APPLE. 



{Podophyllum peltattan L. ) 



" The blushing peach and glossy plum there lies, 

 And with the ynandrake tempt your hands and eyes." 



— Quoted in Tuckermaji's America, p. jj. 



The may-apple is a small perennial herb 

 with long root-stocks or underground 

 stems (rhizomes), a native of the United 

 States and Canada, growing in rather 

 moist woodlands. The rhizomes attain 

 a length of about twelve feet; they are 

 sparingly branched with comparatively 

 few roots at the nodes. Upon closer in- 

 spection one may notice the leaf scars and 

 stem scars. Early in the spring the bud 

 situated at the anterior end of the root- 

 stock or rhizome, develops and sends up 

 a stem upon which the leaves and flower 

 are situated. The entire plant attains a 

 height of about twelve inches. The leaves 

 are large, peltate (from pelta, a small 

 shield), margin deeply from five to nine 

 lobed, lobes pendant thus giving the leaf 

 a semblance to an umbrella. It is re- 

 markable that the flowerless plants have 

 only one leaf, while the flowering speci- 

 mens always have two, which are oppo- 

 site upon the stem apex, carrying the 

 flower in the bifurcation as shown in the 

 illustration. 



Each plant bears a single flower up- 

 on a drooping stalk. The calyx consists 

 of six greenish sepals, which, however, 

 drop ofif as soon as the flower begins to 

 unfold. The corolla consists of six or 

 nine petals, which are quite large, thick 

 and pulpy, and of a creamy white color. 

 Authorities seem to differ as to the odor 

 of the flower. Some speak of it as very 

 fragrant ; others designate it as nauseous 

 and others express no opinion. Mills- 

 paugh, in his "Medicinal Plants," says, 

 "The odor of the flowers is nauseous ; I 

 am always forcibly reminded of a bad 

 case of ozaena when inhaling their per- 

 fume (?)." It is an undoubted fact that 



the rhizomes, stems and leaves have a 

 very decided heavy, nauseous odor, and it 

 is not unreasonable to assume that this 

 odor is traceable in flower and unripe 

 fruit. 



The flowers expand in May and the 

 fruit ripens in August. The fruit is a 

 berry about the size of a plum. At first 

 green, it changes to a soft yellow at ma- 

 turity. It is not unlike a tomato in gen- 

 eral appearance. When fully ripe it has a 

 fragrant odor and tastes somewhat like 

 the paw-paw (Asimina triloba). 



Podophyllum peltatum is variously 

 known as may-apple, Indian apple, hog 

 apple, wild lemon and raccoon berry in 

 reference to the fruit; duck's foot (Ger- 

 man, Entenfuss) in reference to the form 

 of the leaf; wild jalap in reference to its 

 medicinal properties, which are similar 

 to that of jalap. The generic name Podo- 

 phyllum, meaning foot-leaf, is given in 

 reference to the leaf. The plant is also 

 quite generally known as mandrake or 

 American mandrake, but the mandrake 

 proper, so frequently referred to in the 

 books of Moses and in the works of 

 Shakespeare, is not the may-apple but 

 Mandragara officinalis L. of the night- 

 shade family (Solanaceae), a native of 

 southern Europe. Earlier collectors sup- 

 posed the two plants to be similar if not 

 identical. There is only one other spe- 

 cies of Podophyllum which is a native of 

 Europe. 



Apart from its beauty the may-apple 

 is highly valued for its fruit, which is con- 

 sidered a delicacy by the American In- 

 dians. Whites apparently do. not care 

 much for the fruit, though it is occasion- 

 ally collected and eaten. The taste of the 



