NationMaster - Encyclopedia: American Mayapple

The American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to the eastern part of North America. The stems grow to 30-40 cm tall, with palmately lobed leaves up to 20-30 cm diameter with 5-9 deeply cut lobes. The plant produces two growth forms. The ones with a single umbrella-like leaf do not produce any flower or fruit. The plants having a twin leaf (rarely three-leaf) structure, however, bear a single white flower 3-5 cm diameter with six (rarely up to nine) petals, between the two leaves; this matures into a yellow-greenish fruit 2-5 cm long. The plant appears in colonies in open woodlands. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x900, 68 KB) Podophyllum peltatum - USDA photo [1] File links The following pages link to this file: American Mayapple Podophyllum ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms (as opposed to folk taxonomy). ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Classes Magnoliopsida- Dicots Liliopsida- Monocots The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families See text The Ranunculales are an order of flowering plants, which belong among the basal eudicots. ... Genera See text. ... Species Six species; see text Podophyllum is a genus of six species of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia (five species) and eastern North America (one species, Mayapple ). They are woodland plants, typically growing in colonies derived from a single root. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Carolus Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as (helpÂ· info), (May 23, 1707 â€“ January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... This article is about the plants used in cooking and medicine. ... A Red Valerian, a perennial plant. ... Genera See text. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... Clivia miniata bears bright orange flowers. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Catalonia. ...

The name is a misnomer because it is the flower that appears in early May, not the "apple", which appears later during the summer; neither is it related to apples. The Mayapple is also called the Devil's apple, Hogapple, Indian apple, Umbrella plant (shape of the leaves}, Wild lemon (flavor of the fruit), and American mandrake. Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ...

Caution

All the parts of the plant, excepting the fruit, are poisonous. Even the fruit, though not dangerously poisonous, can cause unpleasant indigestion. The plant contains podophyllotoxin, which is used as a cytostatic and topically in the treatment of genital warts. Podophyllin is a drug obtained from the rhizome of the American Mayapple (â€˜â€™Podophyllum peltatumâ€™â€™), an herbaceous perennial belonging to the natural order Berberidaceae, indigenous in woods in Canada and the United States. ... Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. ... Genital warts (or condyloma, or condylomata acuminata) is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease. ...

External links

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Category: Berberidaceae Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

Results from FactBites:

The American Mayapple and its Potential for Podophyllotoxin Production (3075 words)
	Extracts of dried rhizome of Bankakri and mayapple were used by Himalayans and the North American native populations as cathartics and cholagogues respectively.
	Mayapple is described as self-incompatible but some researchers believe that colonies in the wild may come from a single seedling, thus one genotype grows in clonal patches (Laverty and Plowright 1988).
	Mayapple, however, is one of the first species to sprout in the spring before the leaves of taller trees are fully developed and gathering enough energy to support the yearly growth.

Mayapple (695 words)
	The mayapple's rhizome is thick and reddish brown.
	Mayapple was well known to North American Indians, who valued it for its powerful laxative effect, as a treatment for intestinal worms, as a cure for warts, and even as an insecticide for use on their crops.
	Native North American tribes drank a brew made from the dried, ground rhizome as a treatment for intestinal worms, as an antidote for snakebite, and as a laxative.

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