The North American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) has much to offer as a plant for agroecological systems: 1) It grows in the woods -- of which we have no shortage in the US & Canada -- loves shade, and it doesn't crowd out other plants. 2) It's a perennial, of course. 3) It is easily transplanted by rhizome in the fall or early winter. 4) It's a powerful (and potentially dangerous) medicinal plant -- one of the first chemotherapy agents, still in use. And 5) It's delicious.
Only the pulp of the ripe fruit is edible - not the skin nor seeds. The whole plant, including the unripe fruit, contains the podophyllin toxin, the most medically active component (which is most concentrated in the rhizome). It can be grown from seed, so it can be bred, though the process is slow.
We're undertaking a long-term breeding program to achieve multiple goals. Primarily, it's important to develop high-podophyllin-content varieties that also multiply more quickly than most wild mayapples because the closely related Asian mayapples are being wild-harvested at an unsustainable rate to meet global demand for cancer medicine. Past research has indicated wide variation in podophyllin content among wild populations, so breeding should be very worthwhile. It would also be nice to improve existing wild strains for better fruit production. My own experience in the woods has led me to believe there's great variation in terms of size, vigor, disease resistance, fruit production, and even flavor.
The plants in the photo attached are all 'Tracy' mayapples growing at the EFN flagship farm in NJ. They were transplanted from a private home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania a year ago and named after the late couple I presume transplanted them from the wild (either in PA or their native North Carolina) to their backyard. They are the tallest I've ever seen, with the widest leaves and the biggest fruit. They also seem to have a much higher proportion than is typical of flowering shoots (many wild colonies are mainly non-flowering shoots, with perhaps 10% flowering; the 'Tracy' mayapple is close to the reverse, with 80 or 90% of shoots flowering when conditions are good).
If you have access to patch of mayapples, particularly any extraordinary ones, please do get in touch. If you're willing to dig some rhizomes and mail them to us, we would very much appreciate it. In many parts of the US and Canada, in late summer you might find ripe fruit either hanging on the plant or lying on the forest floor. Any seeds - fresh, still wet, not dried - would also be much appreciated. You can contact me here or by email at nathankleinman@gmail.com for more information.
If you sign up to join this project, you may be sent mayapple seeds or rhizome for propagation (though amounts are limited).
08318
United States
I have randomly collected mayapples over the years and added them to my forest edge. This year seems to be an "everyone set fruit" year. I noticed that one of them has three fruits where there is normally one. I haven't seen this before and am thinking it's just an odd behavior. Have others seen this before too? I'll keep an eye out for it and maybe mark and move this plant in the spring to see if it is stable or not.
We have a large swath of mayapple growing on property we bought late fall. I’m interested in being part of this project both to volunteer my plants/rhizomes and to growing new breeds.
My property is adjacent to woods. There are plenty of may apples out there. I cannot find them right now, and besides the ground is frozen. But this spring, after I see them pop up, I can dig some up. Who do I send them to? They will be from Southern Ohio.
In addition, I can also plant some may apples in the woods to observe them. Typical Southern Ohio hardwood forest with maple, oak, black walnut, ash (what is left of them), elm, red cedar, hickory, etc.
Several creeks running through although they dry up with a dry summer. Next to a river. Nice area. Lots of variety!
I really enjoy the fruit but rarely get to have it because the squirrels usually get them first. Has anyone had any success cultivating them?
I live in the city but I'd be interested in trying to grow some out if anyone has seeds or rhizomes. Front yard is full shade and most and ferns do well there, might be an opportunity to grow some. East-facing side yard gets morning sun. I also have a friend with some woodland habitat that might be a suitable location to grow them (he may even have some growing there already).
I have Mayapples on our property outside Norwich, NY. They grow in the shade of, primarily, hardwood forest.
Mayapples have always been one of my favorite wild plants. I am thrilled to find this project. As an avid outdoorsman and forager, I am always in the woods. I will now be keeping an eye out for beneficial traits and willing to take rhizomes from any area it is allowed in.
I also have access to a perfect woodland area I can transplant any rhizomes I find or are shipped and would be thrilled to grow some varieties and monitor them.
I have a couple of Groves of mayapples, that seem to be around 50% flowering. Would be happy to share.
"Mayapples churn out podophyllotoxin to defend against would-be munchers. To do so, the plants use a step-by-step approach to synthesize their chemical defense. But because the synthetic pathway of the compound had never been worked out, no one knew precisely which genes were involved in stitching together the molecule. What researchers did know was that podophyllotoxin isn’t always present in the plant. “It’s only when the leaf is wounded that the molecule is made,” says Elizabeth Sattely, a chemical engineer at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, who led the current research effort."
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/genetic-engineering-turns-common…
