Himalayan mayapple (Podophyllum hexandrum)
Himalayan mayapple (Podophyllum
hexandrum)
Actually, the himalayan mayapple is a hardy perennial and quite obviously not at all apple like.
Unusual and attractive, the mayapple
is a useful addition to the ground story of any woodland garden, which is its natural habitat where it will spread underground and tolerate quite deep shade. The leaves unfold in the spring like small dark green umbrellas, just two, followed by a single large white or pink flower.
The fruit is bright red, egg shaped and surprisingly big, about 5 cm. Pleasantly flavoured when fully ripe which is usually the early autumn though a bit on the seedy side, it is eaten either raw or cooked.
Apologies for our rather old pot grown photo, we lost track of our woodland grown plants and now have to re-plant in our new woodland area before hopefully obtaining a more up to date pic!