Important: Safety Warning
This page states that certain wild plants are safe to eat. Its identifications and edibility claims are more than a century old and in some cases simply wrong, and deadly look-alikes exist for many edible species. Never eat a wild plant on the strength of this text.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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The May Apple
Another member of the Berberidaceæ is the American May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum), sometimes called mandrake but not related to the mandrake proper (Mandragora officinarum, Nat. Ord. Solanacea, or the Nightshade Family) or the mandrake of the ancients, and the May Apple is the only species of the genus. It is also poisonous by report, so far as the plant itself is concerned, but the root is used medicinally, though too violent in nature to be safe except under medical direction. The fruit is not poisonous, however, and "may be eaten freely with impunity " (Wood and Bache). It deserves to be experimented with further, its flavour being delicious for marmalades.