Behold The Mighty May Apple
(Page 3 of 3)
a short medicinal history of the may apple
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Down through the years the May apple (Podophyllum peltatum ) has had many common names,
including wild jalap, hog apple, ground lemon, Indian
apple, raccoon berry, and American mandrake. The plant
sometimes received that last name not because it is in any
way directly related to the European mandrake (Podophyllum peltatum is a member of the barberry
family while Mandragora officinarum, the European
mandrake, belongs-like the potato, the tomato, and
belladonna—to the nightshade family) . . . but
because podophyllin—a bitter, resinous extract taken
from the roots, leaves, and stems of the May
apple—does have medicinal powers that somewhat
resemble those of the European mandrake.
The medicinal dosage of podophyllin is very small and
overdoses can kill . . . so do not eat the roots or foliage
of the May apple (just as you should never eat the sprouts
of the potato).
The Penobscot Indians used the crushed roots of the May
apple as a poultice for the removal of warts and the
Menominee tribe considered the stems and foliage of the
plant to be a good pesticide. They boiled those parts of
the May apple In water and then applied the cooled liquid
to their potato patches to repel the insects that attacked
them.—FB.
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