Herba Cana - Northeastern Illinois University

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© 2004 by CRC Press 530 Florida Ethnobotany kvpotoyv [’kvpotoyv, kvpolóye](kvpoteyetv, something to put on the head, Creek) [ground, wild] lemon; yellow-berry Maiapfel (May apple, German); May-apple [American, common, mayapple] (Catesby called the herbs May Apple in 1731, although the OED 1971 says the name dates from Philip Miller in 1733 as Pomum Maiale, May apple; either way Catesby found it in local use in the Carolinas by the 1720s); pomme de mai (May apple, Quebec) [American, wild] mandrake[-pear] (pear-like fruits, compared with Mandragora officinarum, New Jersey) mäskätámîn utcípa (mäskätá, defecation, mîn, berry, utcípa, root, Menomini); maskiíchtew [masgichteu] (maashk, defecating, kiich, causes, Delaware) maypop (a name usually applied to Passiflora, Virginia) parasols (an allusion to the leaves, Ohio); umbrella plant [root] (Virginia) podophylle (French) Puck’s foot (‘‘Puck,’’ from Old English púca, Old Norse, púki, Welsh, pwca, Irish púca, a mischievous demon; it is not clear if the word is of Teutonic or Celtic origin, but it was in English by about A.D. 1000; Middle English the pouke was identified with the devil; from the 16th century, as Puck, a tricky goblin or sprite; also called Robin Goodfellow, Hobgoblin; all three were used by Shakespeare in 1590) raccoon berry (from ärä’kun, for Procyon lotor, Virginia Algonquian; in use by 1884) vegetable-calomel (‘‘calomel,’’ from Greek calos, beautiful, melos, black or from Ethiopian calos, beautiful, melos, black, because white or pale bodies rubbed with it become black; mercurous chloride [Hg 2Cl2] ormercurius dubius; used as a laxative in medicine from 1676) vegetable-mercury (the same allusion as ‘‘calomel’’) wild jalap (‘‘jalap,’’ from xalli, sand, atl, water, pan, upon, Náhuatl, used to identify the city as Xalapa and, in this context, Ipomoea purga, by 1675) When I was still a child, I was told that there were ‘‘male’’ and ‘‘female’’ plants of May apples. They were easy to tell apart, because the ‘‘male’’ had a single leafstalk, and the ‘‘female’’ had a branched leafstalk with a leaf on each branch. Moreover, the ‘‘female’’ had flowers in the place where the stalks split into two. I was skeptical. I planted some near my home. Each rhizome node (joint) bore a single leaf*/which was unbranched one year and branched the next. So much for male and female plants. The first record Linnaeus had of these plants was in German physician Christian Mentzel’s (1622 /1701) book of 1682, the Pinax, where he called them Aconitifolia humilis, flore albo unico campanulato, fructu cynosbati (A weak herb with leaves like Monk’s-hood, a single, bell-shaped, white flower, a fruit like a dog briar). Mark Catesby (1731 /1732) called the plants Anapodophyllum canandense (duck foot leaf from <strong>Cana</strong>da). Thankfully, Linnaeus shortened the name to Podophyllum in his Hortus Cliffortianus of 1738. Catesby added that, because the herb flowers in May, the local residents in South Carolina called it ‘‘May apple.’’ Podophyllum has two species (Mabberley 1997). Podophyllum peltatum is endemic to the eastern United States and ranges from Florida to Quebec and Ontario in <strong>Cana</strong>da, and west to Minnesota and eastern Texas (Fernald 1950, Correll and Johnston 1970, Diggs et al. 1999). The other species, P. hexandrum, grows from the Himalayas to eastern Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, northern India, and China (Hsu 1986, Hocking 1997). Fernald et al. (1958) noted that the fruits are relished by most individuals when fresh, although Harvard guru Asa Gray (1810 /1888) was the exception. Gray wrote that the fruit was ‘‘mawkish, eaten by pigs and boys.’’ Although the taste is ‘‘peculiar,’’ as Fernald et al. (1958) described it, the flavor is agreeable. Native people in the Americas concurred. At least the Cherokee, Delaware, Iroquois, Menomini, Meskwaki, Osage, Penobscot, and Ojibwa ate the fruits fresh, cooked, or mashed and made into small cakes that were dried for future use (Hunter [1823] 1973, Yanovsky 1936, Vogel 1970, King 1984, Moerman 1998). As needed, the cakes were soaked in warm water, cooked as a sauce, or mixed with corn bread. There are accounts of indigenous people committing suicide by eating the root of May-apple (Vogel 1970). Because the roots are purgative, emetic, and irritating, that would be an excruciating way to die, although Benjamin S. Barton wrote in 1810 that the root was ‘‘possessed of some degree of an anodyne, or narcotic quality.’’ The Cherokee used Podophyllum to treat intestinal worms, rheumatism, ulcers, and sores, as a laxative, and dropped in the ears ‘‘to restore hearing’’ (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975). The Choctaw treated biliousness with the root (Swanton 1931). The Delaware used the herb as a laxative and spring tonic (Moerman 1998). The Iroquois used it as a strong physic, to treat boils, as a laxative, and as a poison to soak corn seeds in before planting. The Menomini also used it to kill insects on cultivated plants (Mahr 1955a). The Mesk-
© 2004 by CRC Press The Ethnobotany 531 waki used the root to treat rheumatism, as an emetic, and as a physic (King 1984). The Osage used the powdered root as a cathartic, gave it as an antidote for poison, and used it to ward off fever (Hunter [1823] 1973). The Penobscot used May-apple to cure warts (Vogel 1970). Tiny quantities of roots, leaves, or green fruits are poisonous, and powdered root and resin can cause skin and eye problems. Podophyllum peltatum contains more than 15 biologically active compounds, including podophyllin, and a bitter resin containing lignins and flavonols (Diggs et al. 1999). Podophyllin, concentrated in the root, is the drug of choice for treating genital warts although it is highly allergenic (Foster and Duke 1990). Etoposide, a semisynthetic derivative from the roots, is the first-choice drug for treating small-cell lung carcinoma and testicular cancer (Foster and Duke 1990, Coffey 1993, Hocking 1997, Mabberley 1997, Swerdlow 2000). Teniposide is used to treat brain tumors and childhood leukemia (Swerdlow 2000). Podophyllum hexandrum has larger rhizomes than the American species and contains more resins (12%) with about twice the content of podophyllotoxin than P. peltatum (Hocking 1997). Podophyllum hexandrum also contains podophyllotoxin, desoxypodophyllotoxin, isopicropodophyllone, astragalin, hyperin, quercetin, and kaempferol (Hsu 1986). The major disperser of P. peltatum in Delaware forests is the box turtle (Mabberley 1997). Apparently, that is why the herbs can get away with ‘‘hiding’’ their fruits below the canopy of leaves where birds and many other animals have difficulty finding them. Polygala: Milkworts (From Greek poly, much, gala, milk) Milkworts are everywhere in the pine flatwoods in late April. Sometimes thousands of plants belonging to nine species will be in view on ridges and swales. As I look at the plants, I can almost see the Greek physician and author Pedanios Dioscorides from the Polygala.a.Polygala cruciata.b.Polygala lutea.c.Polygala grandiflora.d.Polygala rugelii. e through k. Polygala nana. e. Habit. f and h. Keel, two views. g. Flower. i. Filaments connected to petals. j. Mature seed. k. Pistil. a through d drawn by P.N. Honychurch. e through k drawn by Vivian Frazier. From Correll and Correll 1972.
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Herba Cana - Northeastern Illinois University

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