All the Parts are Poisonous

…and then, only in the smallest of quantities.

Hidden beneath wide parasols of green,
May-apple blooms conduct their spring, unseen.

We have a large colony of Mayapples in our yard that fill our intermittent creek every spring. The colony forms a think cover with close-growing lobed leaves that look like fancy green umbrellas.

It is easy to miss all of the blooms which hover underneath the foliage. But as you look at the colony, and follow its meandering as it marks the topography of the creek, small flashes of white catch the eye. You have to get close and lift the leaves: there, periodic flowers hang down—like the hidden lanterns of fairies.

Two of its other common names are the “ground lemon” and the “American mandrake”. It is good to keep in mind that this “drake”—from Old English draca "dragon, sea monster, huge serpent”—is highly toxic; all the parts are poisonous.

The colony’s curving path is like a verdant snake, wandering through the woodlands’ spring.