May Apple, Podophyllum peltatum
In April you would have found flowers beneath these umbrella-like leaves.
Now, underneath the foliage, the fruit ripens.
Supposedly, Eastern Box Turtles find the fruit quite tasty. They are said to be one of the main distributors of the seeds of the May Apple.
6 comments:
Well I find this charming. Is there any creature more adorable than a box turtle? And it has its own apple. This is one of the best mutualisms ever.
Once I was told (by an interpreter!) that pioneers believed it was bad luck to knock a May apple off the plant, so dogs were forced to run back and forth through the patches. Dogs: bad luck absorbers.
Hugh,
Isn't that just like people to make the dogs take the bad luck...
And you are right about box turtles, they are adorable. A quality they share with the toad :)
as a kid, I ate them. I had read in a book somewhere that the seeds caused digestive problems, so I avoided the seeds. I actually liked the taste of the fruit myself... I had no ill effects from it, but not sure if I would advise eating them or not... I may have just been lucky.
:-)
Robbie,
I have never eaten one. The fact that all parts of the plant except for the ripe fruit are poisonous makes me just a little hesitant ;)
Like Hugh said.
It hadn't occurred to me to be particularly vigilant around our mayapple patches, so thanks for that tidbit. I'll have to keep a particularly sharp eye out for box turtles to document in those areas. I might run across Ernest again.
Wayne,
I always get a thrill when I "re-find" one of "my" turtles. Now that we have moved (only about .25 mile as the crow flies)I am looking forward to learning the locals.
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