During my country drives and forest wanderings in May, I kept spotting dense foot-high ‘forests’ of a wonderful palmate-leaved plant throughout the mixed deciduous forests and along their verges. It looked a little like a miniature palm tree with a single ‘trunk’ ending in an umbrella-like highly lobed leaf. I identified it as the Mayapple (Podophyllum pertatum) in the Berberidaceae family; it’s also known as Indian Apple, Wild or American Mandrake, Pomme De Mai, Devil’s apple, Hog apple, Racoonberry, Vegetable mercury, Duck’s foot, and Podophylle Pelt. The common name of Mayapple refers to the May blooming of its apple-blossom-like flower.

Mayapple Distribution, Habitat & Ecology

This native woodland plant is widespread across most of eastern North America and forms dense mats in damp, open woods, shady fields, riverbanks and roadsides. The Mayapple prefers mesic deciduous woodlands, open woodlands, small woodland openings, savannas, and edges of hillside seeps in wooded areas. Mayapple requires partial or full shade to thrive and prefers rich, moist soil with abundant organic matter.

According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Mayapple is apparently juglone-tolerant so it will grow under black walnut, and is not eaten by deer or rabbits.

Mayapple typically colonizes an area through its creeping, branched underground rhizome. Composed of many thick dark or reddish-brown tubers, the rhizome is connected by fleshy fibers and downward spreading roots at its nodes. An upright 12-18 inch tall shoot with umbrella-like, peltate leaves grows from each terminal bud.

“A colony of Mayapple plants may all have developed from a single seed.  A seed once it germinates will not form a rhizome until it is over five years old and may not produce blooms until a plant is 12 years old.  Colonies grow at a rate of 4 to 6 inches per year, and very large colonies may be more than 100 years old.  One colony may contain up to 1,000 shoots.”

Marion Blois Lobstein, Prince William Wildflower Society 

In early spring, before the trees produce leaves, the Mayapples emerge, looking like fat green unopened umbrellas. When the stem reaches full height, the palmate leaves unfurl, displaying often 5-9 deeply cut lobes. There are one or two leaves per stem, each up to a foot across. Only forked stems with two leaves will produce a flower, usually in May.

In fertile plants, the stem branches into two petioles, each bearing a leaf and a single large flower develops in the axil of the two leaves. The nodding, white to rose-colored flower is 2-3 inches wide, with 6 light green sepals, 6 to 9 waxy petals, and twice as many stamens with white filaments and yellow anthers. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, although the flowers are quite showy, they are short-lived and usually hidden by the leaves. The flowers are fragrant, variously described as pleasant to putrid or musky.

In Defense of Plants writes that Mayapples do not self-pollinate; they need to cross with a genetically different individual for proper seed set. This means a plant from a completely different rhizome network. Although they lack nectar, the flowers offer native bees and bumblebees a rich pollen reward. Marion Blois Lobstein of the Prince William Wildflower Society writes that queen bumblebees are particularly attracted to Mayapple flowers to collect pollen for rearing workers. Lobstein adds that successful pollination is often not high and fruit set is often low as a result. For this reason, the Mayapple puts up to 40% of its energy into its underground rhizome (compared to 8% into sexual reproduction).

If pollinated, the flower produces a fleshy, egg-shaped to lemon-coloured fruit or berry about 1-2 inches in size that contains several seeds. By late summer (August) the berries ripen to a golden colour, often with a glow of pink or purple. Lobstein tells us that the Eastern box turtle may be the primary seed disperser. Other dispersing agents include the white-footed mouse, the grey squirrel, and the grackle.

Later in the summer, single-leafed plants senesce and go dormant; the timing depends on the vigor of the rhizome system and environmental conditions (e.g., the sunnier the location the earlier the plant goes dormant). Leaves persist in plants that have maturing fruits.

Wildlife Benefits & Toxicity of Mayapple

Basically every part of the Mayapple is poisonous thanks to the cytotoxic compound podophyllotoxin. The foliage of Mayapple is avoided by mammalian herbivores because of its poisonous qualities and bitter taste. However, the larvae of a sawfly, Aglaostigma quattuordecimpunctatum, happily feed on its leaves. Mayapple seeds are also poisonous to most life forms. The berries are edible only when fully ripe and are eaten by box turtles and possibly by mammals such as opossums, raccoons, and skunks. The seeds are distributed to new locations in their feces.

Podophyllotoxin, while found in all parts of the plant, appears concentrated in the roots and rhizomes, which are highly toxic if consumed, but were used for centuries by Native Americans for a variety of medicinal purposes. Some uses include treatments for rheumatism, as laxative, treating ulcers, sores, liver and bile problems among many others.