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May 06, 2008

The variable mayapple

Podophyllumgreen10910500 Taking a look at the flowers not yet overwhelmed by Japanese knotweed along the Delaware River in New York yesterday, I found some interesting mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum).

With its pairs of umbrella-like leaves and single flowers hanging between, this is a familiar American woodlander often occurring in broad sweeps in deciduous woods. It’s very distinctive.

In these woods along the river, there was a great variety of leaf shapes and colors – at various stages of development – just a few yards apart. In the first picture, a patch of well developed green foliage represent the familiar type. Podophyllumbronze10909600The second picture, taken about 10ft from the first, shows a late developer with bronze tinted foliage. On another site a few miles away, the distinction between early green and late bronze was even more apparent.

Podophyllumpinkform500 A pretty pink-flowered form with bronze-tinted leaves is occasionally listed by nurseries, that’s the one in the third picture – not quite flowering in the garden here.

I’ll be checking he flowers on all of them soon.

BTW – Research has shown Eastern_box_turtlethat germination of mayapple seed is improved if the fruits are eaten by, and pass through, a box turtle!

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Isn't it amazing how many things are inter dependent on each other, It's only when we interfere that things go awry. You have some really interesting animals where you are Graham.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the podophyllums in the garden (whose flowers are just about to open) when the fruits ripen. I can just see them from where I sit typing this. Now, a picture of a box turtle eating a mayapple, that would be something.

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