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Toxic☠️ To avoid

🍈 Mayapple

Podophyllum peltatum · Berberidaceae

🍁 North America
🧠 To remember it"Green umbrella overhead, wait for yellow on the bed"—under the parasol leaf, everything is toxic except the fully ripe fruit.
Mayapple — Podophyllum peltatum

🔍 Identify it without mistakes

A North American understory plant forming large colonies beneath a single large umbrella-like peltate leaf (the stalk connects to the center of the blade, like a parasol), with a single white flower hidden under the leaves in spring. Only the fully ripe yellow-orange fruit is traditionally considered edible in small quantities; the entire plant—roots, leaves, green fruit—is toxic, causing severe cathartic effects.

  1. one or two large, deeply lobed peltate (umbrella-shaped) leaves, 20-40 cm in diameter, growing on a single stem
  2. single, nodding white flower hidden beneath the fork of two leaves in spring
  3. fleshy oval fruit, green turning pale yellow when fully mature in late summer
  4. dense understory colonies spread by rhizomes
Size30-45 cm
FloweringApril-May, fruit July-August
Habitatmoist, rich deciduous understories, forming dense colonies

⚠️ Not to be confused with

No common edible look-alikes besides the plant itself at different growth stages (—)—

To tell them apart: the main risk is consuming the fruit while still green (highly toxic) mistaking it for ripe, or confusing the leaves and roots with an edible plant due to lack of knowledge; only the fully ripe pale yellow fruit is traditionally tolerated in very small quantities, never the seeds

☠️ What kills

nomPodophyllotoxin (a cytotoxic antimitotic lignan), concentrated in the roots, leaves, and green fruit
dose letale estimeeeating a few leaves or a single green fruit can cause severe poisoning; the root is the most toxic part, precise human lethal dose not established (approx)
delaia few hours for initial digestive symptoms to appear
symptomesviolent vomiting and diarrhea, abdominal pain; in severe cases, bone marrow damage, as well as neurological and hepatic disorders
antidoteno specific antidote; intensive symptomatic treatment
morts documenteessevere cases documented in North America, particularly from ingesting the root or green fruit; confirmed deaths remain rare, but poisoning can be severe (approx)

First steps : Call Poison Control or your local poison emergency center immediately if leaves, roots, or green fruit are ingested. Do not induce vomiting. Never taste the fruit before it has turned completely pale yellow and soft, and never eat the seeds inside.

Sources (2)

No entry replaces a certain identification in the field, or medical advice. When in doubt: don't eat it. If ingestion is suspected: poison control or 112/911.