Let's Domesticate the Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

[Professor Porcupine]

I want to domesticate Mayapples (Podophyllum spp.), Among the few best Super Cold Hardy Plants (Zone 3 Limit) that produce Edible Fruits with Tropical Flavors (Pineapple x Passionfruit). I don’t want mayapples to be a Forager exclusive, I want everyone to enjoy them too! Just look at that diversity! Landrace Crop potential! 



HOW TO EAT
We must exercise caution because Mayapples (Podophyllum spp.) are very toxic plants, the only part that’s edible is the ripe fruit. Unripe fruits are toxic (Just like with Tomatoes, Black Nightshades & many other fruits) so no need to fear them. Simply rip open a ripe fruit, suck out the pulp, spit out the seeds & discard the skin. The seeds are not edible but should pass right thru if swallowed by accidentally (Key thing is to not crush the seeds, they taste horrible if you do). Breeding a Seedless mayapple may be a worthy goal if a Parthenocarpic form shows up.

Here’s what unripe Mayapples look like (Green, Firm & Taste Nasty). These unripe Fruits can be picked green (At just the first sign of whitening) to ripen off vine just like with Tomatoes, thus ensuring yield by beating the animals to it. This is how I ate ~40 Mayapple fruits when most foragers are lucky to even get 1, all I had to do was wait till they turn yellow at home.





PHYLOGENIC TREES
Here’s 2 Phylogenic Trees on Podophyllum Relationships (*Note Dysosma & Diphylleia are now Podophyllum species, there’s a good chance all are crossable with Mayapples).





SPECIES/VARIETIES
Below are all the Mayapple species worth exploring, I suspect all are cross-compatible (Especially with the aid of Mentor Pollination).

Yellow American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
The typical variety, these have a Pineapple x Sweet Tropical Passionfruit Flavor. Truly incredible for such a cold hardy species (USDA Hardiness Zone 3-9).



Many-Fruited American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum f. polycarpum)
An uncommon Multi-Fruited form of Mayapples. Normally each 2-leafed plant only produces 1 fruit, but this form can produce 4-6 fruits per plant. Sometimes this form simply makes 1 Huge Mayapple fruit, (Such Incredible Genetics, someone Needs to save these seeds).



Red American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum f. deamii)
A rare form of Mayapple with Pink Flowers & Red Fruit with Red flesh & Maroon Seeds. From all the research I’ve done, Nobody seems to have even tried it to describe it’s flavor.



Orange American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum f. biltmoreanum)
A Super Rare Form, Fruit with a rich apricot to mango-orange skin & yellowish-white flesh inside. It’s so rare I couldn’t even find a single photo! It was Discovered just North of Barrington Lake County Illinois by Mrs. Valerie Bordener. When not in fruit, it’s indistinguishable from the regular yellow fruited types.
NO PHOTOS EXIST!

Red Himalayan Mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum)
Sister Species most closest Phylogenically to the American Mayapple. These are also edible when fully ripe & Foraged sometimes in the Himayalan Region as a Wild Edible. Couldn’t find much info about their taste but some described it as ranging from tasteless to Tomato x Pawpaw Tropical Fruity flavor with strong aroma.



Many-Fruited Asian Mayapple (Podophyllum pleianthum & versipelle Complex).
Used to be it’s own Dysosmos genus, but now Placed into Podophyllum. This is actually a species complex & has some rare ornamental hybrid varieties. Fully ripe fruits should be edible & I can’t wait to try one! The Multi-Fruited Trait is super useful! Ripe Fruits come in a Red or Yellow & Flowers in a Dark Red, Pink, Yellow or with long petals.




Blue Mayapple (Podophyllum grayi)
AKA Skeleton Flower (Cuz flowers become transparent with water contact), sometimes placed in it’s own genus Dyphylleia grayi. According to PFAF these are edible (But no details were given). I did find a French blog that mentioned they’re edible & taste sweet/sour according to Japanese Nurseryman (Apparently similar to barberry?). Reguardless, these berries are very small but could provide useful genetics into a Mayapple Landrace.




Appalachian Blue Mayapple (Podophyllum cymosum)
AKA Umbrella Leaf (Diphylleia cymosa). Nearly Identical to Skeleton flower except it has fruits are slightly smaller, held on red stems (Pedicels) & Flowers don’t become transparent with water. No specific mention about edibilty for this exact species, but it’s Phylogenically sister to P. grayi, thus very likely has similar edibility. It’s a species I want to try tasting, seeds inside are red (Last Photo).




HOT TO GROW FROM SEED
Mayapples are relatively easy to grow from seed (I’d follow these tips for all species). Seeds need cold stratification & germinate best with light warm to cold cycles. You can just sow them outdoors in a pot or in ground to let nature do it for you or you can sow seeds indoors, (Cold Garage or Fridge can stimulate the needed Cold Stratification). You can speed up germination by putting ziplock baggie in fridge, then putting them at room temperature in Jan/Feb/March & seeds will germinate gradually. Seeds of different mayapple species Pictured below.



Once seeds have germinated, they will remain at the Cotyledon stage for 1 year without any true leaves (This is normal because that’s how mayapples grow, they are building a strong root system). Remember to transplant after plants go dormant cuz they can get root bound in a pot.





Here’s what the root system looks like below the shoot. You can transplant divisions easily once you get a good patch going (Great way to clone exact cultivars!)



Eventually after a few years your mayapples will start to flower/fruit. Most optimal fruiting happens sheltered under open canopy trees with lots of sunlight. Mayapples would grow perfectly under Fruit Trees, in a Food Forrest setting. The more sunlight, the more fruiting! I think the reason why they like growing under trees because is because of the sheltered environment & access to water (A good mulch may achieve the same effect).

My hope is to Inspire & equip you with the knowledge needed to grow & breed Mayapples. These wild edibles are just Begging to be domesticated, and with so many potential species to choose & Cross with, something truly incredible could be bred. So much untapped potential, I refuse to believe I’m the only one wanting to domesticate them, so join me & lets domesticate the Mayapples together!

[gardenGnostic]

Those sound great, I never even heard of them before and I like foraging too. Seeing this kind of raw passion for an overlooked genus is the best!

[Professor Porcupine]

Thank you! I hope to find some passionate collaborators, working with others can speed run domestication. So many overlooked wild edibles are just begging for domestication.
Where do you forage btw? Mayapples might not grow where you live.

[gardenGnostic]

I used to live elsewhere but now I'm in the Pacific Northwest, do any grow here? And more importantly, *can* they be grown here? I kinda wanna try!


(by the way your profile picture porcupine is really cute)

[drymifolia]

Thank you! I hope to find some passionate collaborators, working with others can speed run domestication. So many overlooked wild edibles are just begging for domestication.
Where do you forage btw? Mayapples might not grow where you live.

I'm fairly certain mayapples were at least partially domesticated by the Indigenous people in their native range in North America, so what we have now is a mixture of truly wild populations and feral populations descended from improved selections of long ago. I read a lot about this many years ago but it was in a physical book in the library and I am struggling to find it now.

[Professor Porcupine]

@gardenGnostic Thank you! Maybe I can make a YouTube Channel with that name ?

No Mayapples grow wild in Pacific Norwest Region yet, but that's only because few people grow them. Pacific Northwest is the Perfect climate for them to grow in. Mayapples love to grow undertrees with consistent moisture, they fruit well in more sunnier areas of a forrest.

If you want seeds of the American Mayapple, I'll gladly trade you some just PM me.

@drymifolia This is EPIC! That's exactly the kind of thing I was hoping they did. I wish a lot more of this info was documented, so we could learn from them. It could help explain why some populations have larger fruits or why some Orange & Red fruited forms exist. Makes me wonder why Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) fruits are so big? Could the wild forms actually be surviving dependents of cultivated/domesticated plants? Is Asimina parviflora actually the true wild species & Asinima triloba semi-wild? It would make sense for some cultivated/semi-wild forms to survive being perennial so I don't think it's far fetched to assume the same thing could've happen with Mayapples.
Pawpaw has such a huge "Native" range but makes me really think that Native Americans spread it's range far & wide like their own flavor of Johnny Apple Seed but for Pawpaw. After all why can't plants form a symbiosis with Humans? Wide-spread distribution may also explain why there's so much variety in flavor, Each eco-region where they grew selected for different traits. American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) is also very widespread but Appalachian Blue Mayapple (Podophyllum cymosum) mostly confined to the southern Appalachian Region, maybe Podophyllum cymosum wasn't involved in cultivation like Podophyllum peltatum was.

Lots of crops in the EAC (Eastern Agricultural Complex) have been lost, reverting back to their old forms. It just happens that most EAC crops are annuals, but such reversion to wild forms would be less in perennials right? Surely Native Americans Cultivated Mayapples, American Passionfruit, Pawpaw, Giant Solomon Seals, ect too right? I'm just thinking they had to have some perennials in the EAC too (Technically Sunroot is one of them & perennial)!

[drymifolia]

Absolutely yes, pawpaw was domesticated. I don't think the entire species is the domesticated form of some other species, but there are large groves of better-quality fruit near known Indigenous settlements, and plenty of evidence that the distribution of the species is at least partially due to human influence. I am positive I've read about this in some pawpaw books, and there's lots of information about this available, e.g.:

https://apalacheresearch.com/2021/06/24/the-indigenous-agriculture-of-the-americas-pawpaw-fruit/

[Professor Porcupine]

Are you saying Asimina triloba is a species complex with many subspecies that Native Americans Introgressed so thoroughly that they became one species? That's what happend with Cucurbita pepo & Cucurbita texana, same thing with the Cucumis melo complex which consists of many subspecies (Explains why Cucumis melo has so much diveristy if many species made up it's genetics).

I'm thinking of bring all the Mayapple species together & introgress throughly so they all become a 1 species hybrid swarm. If our Human ancestors did it before why can't we do it again (Especially if left over or abandoned semi-domesticated forms of Mayapples still exist for me to continue the domestication work with)?

[BloomAndSprout]

I live in a forest and have been looking for something that would grow under shade. I'll definitely consider growing these.

[Francis_Eric]

You should put Chicken Wire around the Plants Possums will get them

I ate one of these Taste like Citrus in a way .

There was a Now sold Nursery in Oregon  that hybridized these
with Chinese ones to make the leaves pooka dotted
I have the Link you need to activate it on internet archive
(or way back machine) but I got to look for it in emails --it's over 15 years old.)_

[Francis_Eric]

I couldn't find it, but google (spotty dotty off memory )Asian one
(the one I'm thinking is different looking A Family owned Nursery had it it had more green.)

https://plants.littleredfarmnursery.com/12230004/Plant/7673/Spotty_Dotty_Asian_Mayapple/




See quote Be aware that this can be pretty caustic
The roots can be used to put on warts to eat away a wart (and will eat away flesh)

BERBERIS FAMILY (e.g. Podophyllum peltanum): Slow active purgative. Research has shown these herbs to have a strong action against cancer and they have been used with many cancers, especially Ovarian cancer. In Cancer Watch March 2015, an ingredient Berberine, was shown in research to outperform brain cancer drug, Temozolomide in vitro. It was also shown to act synergistically with it and improve its efficacy.

[Professor Porcupine]

Nice, thanks for the heads up about caustic roots. I think the fully ripe fruits aren't caustic & edible but I really want to try it for myself.
There is such little edibility info on them, finding someone who tried them is difficult.

@Francis_Eric which species did you try that tasted like Citrus?

[dytandme]

I've foraged for and grown mayapple in my yard for years. Once they are a bright yellow they are perfect for eating. Though they are only safe to eat when fully ripe as I understand it. I believe only the flesh can be consumed, not the seeds or skin. I've never eaten more than a dozen in a sitting, but my body seems pretty happy with them as a snack and I've not seen any ill side effects. The ones I've had in SW Ohio and SW WV are delicious little tropical snacks with a pineapple-like thing going on. The plant materials and roots were used in native medicines and modern cancer medicines. But I've also read that natives consumed the root rhizomes to commit suicide.

While I can't cite any articles, I believe these plants were most definitely grown by natives along with other plants like pawpaws. They are often found in the same areas near native burial grounds along the Ohio river watershed.

I've found a few variations within just a few miles of one another. Some plants grew flowers on single leaf stems instead of double leaf stems. Others grew double flowers instead of singles. Some of the large fruit was the size of a mandarin. Most of it was closer to an inch long.

[Professor Porcupine]

Yup, you understand it correctly only the fully ripe fruits are edible. Technically you can swallow the seeds & they will pass thru just fine (Especially if you don't crush/bite the seeds to release their toxic bitter nasty taste), but why risk it when you can easily spit them out.

Hmm... so perhaps some of the "Wild" populations we find are actually Semi-wild escapes of Feral plants? Maybe something survived that native americans bred/selected for? Kind of sad they ate roots to die!? Well let's not fuck around with that just to find out, I'm only interested in the ripe edible fruits.

WOW! You've found lots of incredible diversity of American Mayapples. You have got to save seeds from each one.
I'd recommend arriving a lil early just when they start to change color so you can beat the animals to it. Mayapples will ripen off the vine & It would be disappointing to miss the chance to save some seeds of those plants.
Flowering on Single stem is a useful trait, Double Flowers!? That's a new trait, extremly useful for litterally doubling the yield!
Fruits the size of a Mandarin is really good! You've got to take a picture of it! The ones I found in Maryland were about an inch long.

Pineapple Guava Passionfruit is how I would describe the flavor of ripe Yellow mayapples in Maryland.

[dytandme]

Good to know the seeds aren't harmful if swallowed! I typically do scout patches just before the fruit ripens. They can be picked before they're ripe but fruit quality suffers pretty drastically if picked green and allowed to yellow on the counter.

If you want seeds for your project, I can keep some this season.  I forgot to do that with the double flowering patch last year. My preference is actually to cut out a stem and some rhizomes and add a clone to the collection. I did that with the single leafers already.

And yes, I believe them to be the feral children of once domesticated plants. What's really cool is that in certain instances, clonal patches/groves will form around mother plants over hundreds if not thousands of years, preserving ancient DNA. This is the case for the pawpaws in Glenn Helen Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio. There is one large pawpaw grove on the bottomland that spreads 20 acres or more. I believe the mother trees was planted by the natives thousands of years ago. Walking into that grove feels like traveling through time to the precolonial era. The flavor is the best pawpaw I've ever had: cantlaloupe-mango-banana in that order. Much better than most actual "wild" trees in smaller clusters.

On the topic of domestics going wild, there are other pawpaw patches in Ohio and WV I can cite pretty confidently as being clonal groves of native origin. Besides proximity to burial sites, my main tell is whether the trees in the center of a large grove set fruit or not. Since pawpaws are not self fertile, one can infer that a grove is clonal when only the trees on the outside edges of the multi-acre spread (with access to pollen from other pawpaws with different DNA) will set fruit. I've read mayapple patches spread very slowly, meaning that extremely large patches could be extremely old, perhaps even lost native cultivars like the pawpaws in YS.

[Professor Porcupine]

I've actually never noticed the difference between Ripen naturally on the vine vs Ripen off the vine at home, they taste literally the same.
I'm convinced it's a myth. But maybe it depends on how unripe you pick them. I pick mine when they're fully sized & starting to change color on at least 1 side, typically I pick those with a big white spot or those that are starting to show yellow color.
There is a point when it's too unripe to even ripen "off the vine".

Nice cloning roots is smart! Saving seeds is also smart!

If you want seeds for your project, I can keep some this season.

I really appreciate it , thank you! Message me.

The flavor is the best pawpaw I've ever had: cantlaloupe-mango-banana in that order. Much better than most actual "wild" trees in smaller clusters.

WOW! Please tell me you saved some seeds of those too! Those genetics are incredible, I'd love to have them in my Pawpaw Breeding projects.
If that tree is the original Native American cultivar (Or recent offspring), just think how long Pawpaws can live for? They might even outlive me.

Very interesting, I'll keep that in mind if I ever find another Wild Pawpaw or Mayapple Patch.
Since mayapples grow slowly, I wonder if there's a way to speed up their spread? I think crossing with other species may make them grow like weeds, if so that would be super cool! I'd love to have Vigorous Mayapples and I know Hybrid Vigor is a real thing so imagine seeing it in Mayapples & Pawpaws too!

[dytandme]

When it comes to lower quality fruit ripening off the plant, I'm talking about the ones that are turning green to white without any yellow yet. They will ripen, but they're drier and less sweet. When they're already yellow, it's less notable. But when you're competing with squirrels, you gotta beat 'em to the fruit!

I'll shoot you a message when it's mayapple time. And regarding pawpaws, the patch sets very little fruit except for a few specific areas. And beavers have cut down the best fruiting trees in those areas over the past few years. So I have a few 2 year old seedlings left, but I won't be able to source more seeds unless nature does a better job at pollinating the patch this season.

My present plan was actually to graft budwood from the mature clones in the patch to pawpaws seedlings from other patches and distribute it among interested breeders.

[Professor Porcupine]

I see, I've harvested those with white spots to ripen off vine & never noticed much difference when they eventually fully ripen. Perhaps the differences are too subtle for me to notice or remember.

I'll shoot you a message when it's mayapple time.

Bet! I'm in Maryland and I pick mine in Later July which is when they've fully reached size but are still green & just stating to turn color.

Nooo beavers!!! Why you take the best tree    :'(
Well anyways Grafting is a good plan, hopefully they cross pollinate well!

[dytandme]

Or maybe I was being finicky about it, lol...

Our mayapple just popped in the last few weeks and flowered last week. I keep a patch of everything I forage for in my yard. Whenever mine are almost ripe, I go check the wild selections. Mid to late July is what I'm expecting this year.

And about what you said about pawpaws outliving us, that's very possible. I will admit I have found a few pawpaws in the Dayton, Ohio area that are probably pushing triple digits. But in general, the individual top side trees lifetimes seem to be similar to ours, even if the root network can live for centuries.

Reminds me of the box huckleberry plants found in PA, one of which is estimated to be 13,000 years old... https://thepennsylvaniarambler.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/along-the-way-the-box-huckleberry/

[toehead]

Does anybody have cuttings or plants they would be willing to share? I'm in MA and would like to help.


Edit: I couldn't resist, so found a few locally and planted them in one of my gardens.

[BloomAndSprout]

I'd like to join, but I need some direction.  I don't know where I can obtain one of these plants, while I am sure there grow natively somewhere around me, I don't know where. Is there any species particularly I should work on obtaining that would be best for this project? I have enough wild or unimproved lots around me where I could guerilla plant some of these on land I don't own (heh heh).

Also, the pawpaw discussion is close to my interests --- someone, or some group, needs to go out and collect samples of these pawpaw trees from ancient groves, I have thought this myself in the past -- but learning where they are is the challenge.

Great thread, by the way.

[dytandme]

I'd like to join, but I need some direction.  I don't know where I can obtain one of these plants, while I am sure there grow natively somewhere around me, I don't know where. Is there any species particularly I should work on obtaining that would be best for this project? I have enough wild or unimproved lots around me where I could guerilla plant some of these on land I don't own (heh heh).

Also, the pawpaw discussion is close to my interests --- someone, or some group, needs to go out and collect samples of these pawpaw trees from ancient groves, I have thought this myself in the past -- but learning where they are is the challenge.

Great thread, by the way.

Podophyllum peltatum, or yellow American mayapple is the only kind I've seen growing wild in Ohio and WV. The one exception was one plant that could be called a podophyllum peltatum polycarpum as it had two fruit.

You can use plant ID apps like iNaturalist to find tagged GPS locations of specific species like wild mayapple or pawpaws. I'd suggest only digging a few from any patch you find.

The other option is to buy local or online. There are folks on FB marketplace selling mayapple nearby in Columbus and Cincinatti. Sadly, none of the local garden centers stock plants like mayapple unless I go out of my way to supply them.

[Professor Porcupine]

Our mayapple just popped in the last few weeks and flowered last week. I keep a patch of everything I forage for in my yard. Whenever mine are almost ripe, I go check the wild selections. Mid to late July is what I'm expecting this year.

Harvest them unripe when just starting to turn color. I'd hate for you to not get anything by waiting till they're fully ripe. Animals are wayyy faster than you, so you gotta be them by harvesting unripe to ripen at home. If it's mid july for you, harvest them then.

I'd like to join, but I need some direction.  I don't know where I can obtain one of these plants, while I am sure there grow natively somewhere around me, I don't know where. Is there any species particularly I should work on obtaining that would be best for this project? I have enough wild or unimproved lots around me where I could guerilla plant some of these on land I don't own (heh heh).

Hmm... I'm not sure as seeds of the Other Podophyllum species are rarely sold, mostly it's just different plants & cultivars (Mostly the Asian Multi-fruited Mayapples that no one thinks to eat cuz they're grown for ornamental reasons). All the plant breeding focus is for Ornamental value, almost everyone sleeping on the edibility value (Except a very tiny niche).

There is a decent amount of the diversity among Podophyllum peltatum in the Eastern U.S. that grow wild. Plus there's also Appalachian Blue Mayapple (Podophyllum cymosum)
AKA Umbrella Leaf (Diphylleia cymosa). These grow in the Souther Appalachian Mountains, I think the genetics are valuable for this project too!

As for the other species, we can get them Online from nurseries that sell whole plants (Someone on these forums may actually already have them growing, I've seen others in other forums did). We can also try asking INaturalist users who find those plants if they can save seeds. Those are the only other 2 ways I know of to get those different mayapple species seeds (Unless there's a store selling seeds that I'm not aware of).


Don't worry if you have trouble finding them, we can still exchange info to progress the project further!

[BloomAndSprout]

Hey, looks like there are mayapples literally a few minutes drive from my house. Literally right where I needed to drive tomorrow.  Serendipity. I'll go dig some up and report back.

[Professor Porcupine]

Nice! Altho idk if summer is the best time to dig & transplant them? I guess it's worth a try to see how they do but I've heard it's usally done in winter (Problem is how do you find the plants in Winter???)