Mayapple

Did you know

• Mayapple flowers hang directly under the umbrella-like paired leaves, completely hidden from above — you have to lift the leaves to see them.
• Only stems with two leaves produce a single flower; single-leaved stems are sterile.
• The roots contain podophyllotoxin, a compound that's the basis for the modern chemotherapy drugs etoposide and teniposide used to treat cancer.
• Box turtles are the primary seed dispersers — they eat the ripe yellow fruits and excrete the seeds far from the parent colony.
• Despite the medicinal uses of the roots, every part of the plant except the fully ripe fruit is toxic to humans.

Color meanings

Uses

• Woodland gardens
• Native plant gardens
• Naturalizing
• Shade ground cover