Mayapples!!!
I found a huge area covered with a distinctive but unfamiliar-to-me plant these in the woods. I decided to do a search on the picture I took, and I believe they are Mayapples or Wild Mandrakes. I’ve heard of mandrakes from the Bible when Leah uses them to bargain with Rachel for a night with Jacob. It turns out you can eat the fruit when they’re ripe if you remove the seeds. So exciting! It sounds like there are medicinal uses as well I haven’t researched yet. Has anyone here used them in cooking before?
Comments
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Ours will be up in a month or so... I hardly ever get a fruit befoer the critters!
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@judsoncarroll4 Critters!! I hadn’t thought about that! I guess it’s too soon to rejoice.
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Grab some chicken wire or hardware clothe, etc!
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@Megan Venturella My experience with Mayapple is from a homeopathic perspective (Podophyllum) to treat diarrhea. I am including a link to Plants for a Future so you can check out the medicinal properties, herbal uses and the cautions. It is a strong purgative and is no longer recommended internally but is used for warts.
https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Podophyllum+peltatum
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I always heard that when the Mayapples are up it's time to look for morel mushrooms!
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@Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri I too heard this for years. In my experience in this county, the morels are already popping in our area when the Mayapples appear. They have been finding morels for almost a week, within 3 miles of us, and the Mayapples just popped up Monday.
I was told as a child they were poisonous so it is good to hear they are medicinal. Just a thought, Doc Jones says something about the medicine being in close proximity to the "problem". If you eat too many morels you will need the antidiarrheal power of the Mayapple!
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I'm completely unfamiliar with this plant. Evidently it isn't in my neck of the woods.
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@Megan Venturella That is so cool!
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I should make note here that taking Mayapple as a herb will not help with diarrhea. It will cause diarrhea. When I mentioned Podophyllum to treat diarrhea, it is because of the "like cures like" of homeopathy. Because Mayapple will cause diarrhea, the homeopathic remedy will counter the diarrhea.
So please don't take Mayapple internally as a herb.
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I have eaten them, and they are delicious. If I remember correctly, you only eat the pulp- not the skin or seeds. I remember thinking it tasted tropical. Not the same mandrakes as in the Bible, by the way, just the same common name.
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@blevinandwomba Great to hear! I hope I get a taste this year. Do you happen to know what they’re talking about in the Bible then? I’ve always been so curious about what would be worth bartering your husband away for the night!
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I have a ton of Mayapples down by the creek - but I have to check and see if that group of plants are sitting in poison ivy.
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Ever heard of Mayapple until today. Don’t think they grow in my neck of the woods.
Who’s going to try making Mayapple jam?
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Has any one made Mayapple jam?
I may try it
https://www.grit.com/food/recipes/mayapple-jelly-recipe-zm0z14maztel
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The patch is huge! So if I’m able to get enough, I’ll definitely try making the jam. I also recently was able to identify the brambles everywhere as blackberry vines- so maybe this year I’ll make blackberry may apple jam! Exciting to consider 😊
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Wish I could try that! I have several nice stands of mayapples on the place. Each year I watch them come up, then blossom, then fruit, then....no fruit. I don't think the critters know or care about the part that says 'wait until fully ripe....."
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All wildlife seem to know exactly the time to harvest the crops you plan too :(
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@Megan Venturella I don't think anyone knows for certain what plant they were referring to, but it could have been a Mandragora species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandragora_(genus)
As to why Rachel wanted it that badly, I looked at a couple of commentaries and the consensus is that the plant in question helped with infertility. Just a few verses before, Rachel told Jacob she would die if she didn't have children.
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@blevinandwomba Fascinating! Thank you for sharing!
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I too use Podophyllum homeopathically. Never tried the fruit though. This may be the year. They come up in the woods about the same time as Blood Root (Sanguinaria canadensis) and both are pretty easy to identify. I always think of them together, oh, but don't eat blood root.
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