166 OBSERVATIONS ON PODOPHYLLUM PELTATUM. 
Podophylle^:, Lindley . 
May Apple is an indigenous herbaceous plant, thriving 
in swampy, low, shady woods, being particularly adapted, 
to rich and shaded soil, growing in patches close together, 
and sometimes covering a large extent of ground. The 
flowers, which are nodding and white, appear in May and 
June, are situated in the forks of the petioles at the top of 
the stems, having a corolla composed of about nine petals, 
and a calx of three oval concave leaves. The stamens 
number from twelve to twenty, surmounted by long yellow 
anthers. The stigma is sessile. 
The stalk which is about twelve or sixteen inches high, 
supports two palmate leaves which are of a green colour, 
smooth on the top, veined and hairy on the under surface, 
and generally wither as soon as the fruit is matured. The 
fruit is a yellowish drupe about the size of a small hen's egg, 
resembling in shape and colour the fruit of Citrus limonis? 
from which it has derived the name of Wild Lemon. 
The rhizoma, which is the only officinal part of the plant, 
is a long creeping jointed horizontal fleshy root; the joints 
which are much thicker than the other portions of the root 
are furnished with radicles of the same colour. In the dry 
state when broken it exhibits a whitish amylaceous fracture : 
externally it is of a reddish brown colour, corrugated and 
wrinkled lengthwise, has a bitter taste, and somewhat aro- 
matic odour. It should be collected in the fall after the 
leaves and stalks are withered, or in spring as soon as the 
shoots are perceptible — the former is perhaps preferable, as 
the medical properties of the root, by its being in the ground 
all winter, are more or less subject to deterioration. 
The decoction and tincture are very bitter; alcohol is the 
best solvent for the bitter principle, but diluted alcohol takes 
up a greater amount of extract, although it is much weaker 
in proportion to its bulk, therefore alcohol of 35° Baume is 
preferable to any other menstruum for the extract, as it affords 
