Podophyllum peltatum

Mayapple

[ click on any image below to see larger version ]


Family: Berberidaceae (Barberry family)

Mid-Atlantic bloom time: March - May
Mid-Atlantic fruit ripe: May - July

Mayapple gets its common name because the flowers appear around May, and the fruit (which forms later) looks somwhat like an apple. Plants with only one leaf will not bloom; only those with two leaves produce a flower and subsequent fruit.

All the parts of Mayapple, except the fruit, are poisonous. The fruit resembles a green apple and can cause unpleasant indigestion if eaten, even though purportedly it's not dangerously poisonous.




13 April 2015
Sky Meadows State Park, Paris, VA
(emerging plant with leaves folded)
15 April 2015
Bull Run Mountains Natural Area Preserve, Haymarket, VA
23 April 2020
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA
3 May 2012
G. R. Thompson Wildlife Management Area, Linden, VA
8 May 2018
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Sharpsburg, MD
18 April 2016
Monticello Park, Alexandria, VA
10 May 2018
G. R. Thompson Wildlife Management Area, Linden, VA
23 April 2020
Manassas National Battlefield Park, Manassas, VA




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