Mandrake.Podophyllum peltatum.May Apple.
Found in woodlands during May and June.
The single stalk, 14 to 18 inches in height, bears upon its summit a pair of great leaves on forking stems; it is large, round, very hard and fibrous, juicy, smooth, and somewhat glossy; a dry, tough, pale sheath enwraps it at the foot. In color it is a very light green, almost white.
The leaves are almost a foot across and nearly circular in shape, divided into 5 or 9 wedge-shaped radiating parts which are often 2- (or more) lobed, and with as many main ribs as there are divisions; all the lesser ribs and veins are conspicuous in these highly ornamental leaves—they have shallow but sharp-pointed margins, and are rather thin in texture, smooth and glossy, and of a rich dark green color, whitened with bloom underneath. The stems are large and pale.
The flower is formed of several wedge-shaped petals (6 to 9), firm and thick of texture, showing many fine-netted veins, and dull white in color; they spread and curve about the base of the prominent greenish seed-box, the large and conspicuous stamens forming a ring in the center. The flower, on a pale stem, grows from between the leaf-stems with a distinct inclination to one side.
In bud the flower is enfolded by 3 temporary bracts,—the 6 calyx-parts also fall when the petals expand. The long rather oval fruit is found eatable by the uncritical palates of children.