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| Photo
by Renee Brecht |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below.** |
| Botanical name: |
Podophyylum peltatum L. |
| Common
name: |
mayapple |
| Synonomy: |
n/a |
| Group: |
Dicot |
| Family: |
Berberidaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb |
| Duration: |
Perennial |
| Origin: |
Native |
| Plant
height: |
12-18" |
| Foliage: |
up to 1' across; palmately lobed, cleft, denatate on margins. 5-9
lobes per leaf that are deeply divided; leaves are glabrous.
Rhizotamous. |
| Flower
color: |
white; fruit is an ovoid fleshy yellow berry, occuring only when cross-pollination occurs. |
| Flower
size: |
2" across |
| Flowering/fruiting time |
April - mid-May; fruits mature August, usually after the foliage has perished. |
| Habitat: |
well-drained, rich, moist, shadedground of deciduous woods and edges |
| Range
in
New Jersey: |
statewide outside the central Pine Barrens |
| Heritage ranking if any: |
n/a |
| Distribution |
 |
| Misc.: |
Some plants are branched with a pair of leaves, "forks"; others are
unbranched and produce only a single leaf on a long stalk, rather
resembling an umbrella.
When
ripe, the fruit is edible; the rest of the plant is highly toxic
(podophyllum). This toxin is used in treating skin cancer by inhibiting
cell growth. Berries are eaten by box turtles and possibly by
opossums, raccoons, and skunks, as well as squirrels, white-footed mice
and common grackles. Box turtles are known to be a dispersal agent for
the seeds by consuming the fruit and dispersing the seeds after
digestion.
Native Americans used the plant for liver ailments, rheumatism, and as an insecticide..
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Sources
**USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 2: 130. |
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