the chemotherapy drug, "etoposide" was given to my infant when going through cancer treatment. I learned that the drug is derived from compounds from the Mayapple plant. Wow!
Thats amazing ... I hope YOUR child has recovered and is living a cherished life. There was a saying in the 60s and 70s... GOD made...(they were REFERING to marijuana) Man MADE ... Who do you TRUST.. As an HERBALIST friend once explained (as did my sainted Grandfather) For every ill in the world there is a plant growing near by with the remedy... I like that the mayapple which is toxic except for its fruit is a treatment that I hope has cured your child.
Adam Harriton. If I could choose anyone person to wander the forest with it would be you!! Intelligent and cheerful. Your passion for nature's secrets is completely contagious! 👌
The root is said to cause vomiting and treat skin infections like warts. Something is better than nothing, but a better poison would be rattlesnake venom, deadly nightshade, yew berries, aconite. The Osage tribe reported they would get a rattlesnake to bite a piece of deer liver, dice it up and preserve it in clamshells, used for food poison and arrowheads, according to oral recordings from 1930 in the New Mexico Archive Online.
Adam, you are a diamond to the foraging community, you have helped me expand my foraging from spring morels only to oysters, chantrelles, hens, chicken and wild fruits! Appreciate your professionalism and dedication to the community! Thank you!!
I would pick them while squirrel hunting. They are good snack with moisture when thirsty. I bite end off and squeeze in to mouth. Suck on the seeds and spit out. Sometimes I swallow seeds. Never been sick. All my family has ate them for years. I’ve ate them since I was able to eat. The seeds have been swallowed alot
Grew up eating them and never thought it was hard to find they are everywhere at least in my woods I find them in a huge patch in my field It's always so full of fruit. Just make sure it's fully ripe so tasty Love your videos thank you
Yep. They are the best, when they get those little brown spots and bruises on them. Bit of a pain with all the seeds. Good trail nibbles, but way too much work to do anything like make jelly. Taste like candy. Slimy though.
Hello from Wisconsin. I am smiling cuz our woods is LOADED with May Apples. I'm a Master Gardener...and love my plants. I have been transplanting May apples throughout our woods...and they thrive. But you know...been at this for over 25 years and your video showed me they are edible...smiles. Can't see the forest for the trees, eh?
I had no idea. They are plentifully abundant in my woodland adjacent to Raccoon Park, and I've seen the fruit when out walking. Definitely worth searching out since this 'rare exotic' is right in my back yard. Thanks.
@@bigDwood My farm borders Raccoon Park. When I met Adam at Sewickley Farmers Market he knew my place not from the road but from the stream leading up from the lake. Didn't know who he was at the time but had a sense he'd be someone interesting to know.
I had my first ripe may apple a few years ago. Oh, it was amazing!!! I don't think any would make it home if I found them again. (I did eat the seeds and skin and didnt notice any off flavor or have any adverse reaction.)
Not only are these plants toxic - they are deadly if used improperly. I live in the Trenton area near the Tyendinega Native reserve. The natives have a lot of respect for this plant, and it has been used for everything from inducing an abortion (which sometimes killed the mother) to committing suicide. These things grow everywhere up here in the woods. They are extremely potent, like a lot of other plants we have; but if you respect them enough to learn about them - you certainly get an appreciation for mother nature. Love your channel. Been watching for the last year since I have become more interested in the natural world around me. Many thanks.
I walk by these plants all the time in the woods. The distinctive leaves and pretty flowers drew me to them. But I never knew what they were called. Now I know.
Adam you are truly the best when it comes to learning our land. Your videos are not only very informative and complete but no nonsense small talk in between. You're a gem!
I worked near a very large patch of May Apples for 21 years. Sometimes there would be an abundance of fruit. Regardless of how diligent I was it always seemed like the fruit would disappear very rapidly as soon as they turned yellow. I assumed it was deer beating me to it but all the animals you mentioned were present too. I never saw evidence of other people but its possible I wasn't the only one keeping track. This video makes me want to try to harvest some again. Thank you for it.
My dad once came across a mayapple plant while walking in the woods. He knew they were poisonous when not ripe, but he thought it looked almost ripe and figured it would probably be safe to eat. When he got home he collapsed on a lawn chair and became so sick he could barely move and he felt like he was high. He laid there for something like 8 hours and my sister's connected a bunch of straws to a glass of water so he could drink because he literally couldn't move enough to drink. In the end, he was ok. I think he learned his lesson and now he's more careful about trying plants he's unfamiliar with lol.
We have lots of these in Southern Ontario and I never knew we could eat the ripe fruit. Thanks. Unfortunately, the animals usually get them before the humans do.
@@farquadmantis8486 I wish I could get that recipe grandma died 30 years ago I do remember her removing the flesh from the skin and mashing it to mix in her batter but that's all I got sorry about that
@@farquadmantis8486 folks that were in the great depression were the best cooks and could cook anything my grandma's mom taught her when she was young different era back then
Thanks for the delightfully informative tutorial on the mayapple. I had them in my woodland garden for the sake of the flower, never suspecting that the ripe fruit was not toxic, like the rest of the plant. Can't wait to try the ripe fruit!
Mayapple is just one of those seasonal treats that is best eaten in that little window frame that you can find them. Like treasure hunting. I also wouldn't recommend you eat a whole bunch at one time. 😊 Just a magical treat here and there.
While strolling along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston Massachusetts, we discovered a bounty of May Apples. I tentatively cut one open, tasted the soft sweet smelling pulp inside and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. I picked about 10 to take home and I'm going to try propagating this delicious fruit in my own yard in central Virginia. Do you have any advice for growing this plant?
As a youngster growing up in the TN mt's we use to dig the may apple roots and sale them as we also did Ginseng , But do not remember waht the May apple roots were used for! BTW Have you ever done a vid. on Ginseng or Blood root?
I’ve tried them once, they’re all over my forest BUT everyone else gets them before me! They are so yummy! Thanks for this video Adam, I love them all.
@@genki_7 I think your right... The darn critters get the pears off my pear tree just as they'd be ripe and I never get any... I don't mind them having a share but it would be nice if they'd let me have a few too. Greedy little buggers...Any suggestions on how to scare them off... If tried an animated hawk and an owl... No luck there... They're too smart to fall for either.
@@genki_7 Thanks .. As I live with a forest pretty much around me that's not really a feasible idea either. Then after awhile they'd just avoid the trap too. Thanks ... For the suggestions and your kind speed in an attempt to help with my problem.
I have a natural colony of the plants . Long lived I believe the patch could be hundreds of years old near a 150year + old oak I know the area remained natural for hundreds of years. They ripen at different times pick more than once. When Cold ripens over weeks . Warmer ripens in one week when full size.
Thank you so much for uploading this. I have been trying to find ripe mayapples for years and haven't found a single one. Hopefully this will be of great help.
I have been stalking a wild colony this year, from last frost to its current flourishing, hoping to have my first taste. Made the mistake of thinking they would be ripe in May, because MAY-apple... lol. You've answered my questions and the ones that hadn't occurred to me yet. Well, if the raccoons squirrels and other foragers don't get them first I'm glad to have seen a demonstration on how to eat one. Good to know that the skin is possibly not the adventure I want to flirt with. Lol. Thank you as always, Mr. Hariton. :)
Love this! I’d love to take a class or just spend the day identifying eatable healthy wild plants. Just found a bunch of wild American persimmons and brought home. Hoping to plant and grow on our property.
No I did not thank you. The one’s I have are usually ripe by Oct. or they’re falling off the trees onto the road an deer going crazy for them. I got these hoping to plant them, not eat them for a decade or so, But thanks for the info. Do you know when muscadine grapes are fully ripe? I have a woods full of those. The vines are killing several trees so I’ve got to thin them out. We figured out what they are and tasted some last year. They are delicious!
@@samyoungblood3740 the reason for waiting till the frost hits the persimmon is to make it sweet. They're bitter and make your tongue draw up like alum would, as persimmon and alum have a similar compound. My people would use persimmons to eat and treat thrush in children. The mayapple as mentioned before was eaten after turning color and to make poison for arrow points from the root, leaves for skin problems. You said persimmon get ripe around October where you live, they get ripe here in early-mid November. Paw paw gets ripe around now - September, passion fruits around April-june. Walnut, hickory, wild pecan. One question, I see the name Youngblood, which usually points to having native American ancestry. Are you of native ancestry. I am of Saponi people, in eastern North Carolina. To many of us we recognize our true ancestry, the Tous or Touscarora people, a warrior nation. I myself am involved in weapons making, medicinal plants, wild foraging. I am Iearning crafts to a lesser degree. I believe in having the ability and not need it, than needing ability and not having it. In this world you never know.
I used to collect those back in IN. There few to none around here on the S. Cumberland Plateau... not sure why? I LOVE your videos, I learn from you regularly. Thanks for keeping this up.
Has your current location got the same kind of mature mixed hardwood forest on slopes that go down to floodplains of a creek or small river? They are usually blooming once the stinging nettles are too old for great fresh eating. Definitely after ostrich ferns have darkened out of their first bright green colour. Jack in the pulpits are budding or opening. Cedars (nearer the creek, not on the slopes) have fresh bright green growth. The forest floor is still visible between plants, brown leaf litter from previous fall has not yet turned fully into soil. Wild ginger leaves are clearly present but not yet mature size & colour. Maples are leafing out. Sumac, found outside of this kind of forest, is not yet fully leafed out This is the environment where mayapple is present in southern Ontario. Fwiw, I've never seen it in coniferous forest nor in dry soil, nor sandy nor gravelly soil. Hope this helps!
Woot! Found some today totally by accident but I remembered your video and snagged a few. if I had never seen your video I woulda enjoyed the oddness of the plant and moved on. Thanks Adam!
We bought a house in SW WI with a shady bed full of mayapple next to the front door! I didn't even know what it was. Last season I didn't have the guts to try the fruit but you've given me courage. Hopefully there will be a lot again this year!
I have a lovely little patch on a mound in my side yard. However, I’ve never eaten the mayapple because I thought they were toxic. Glad to hear I can harvest them :)
Thank you, Adam. I know where a patch is located, but for years avoided because they're toxic. Thanks to your video, I'm definitely going to see if there are any fruits now.
Nice and thanks. I tried starting some from seed in a local greenspace. Pushing the range at 49 degrees north. If it works I’ll post in these comments.
It's May and I'm here in Pennsylvania where ive lived my whole life. I was out walking a cpl weeks ago in a local park and found a large area covered with maypple plants. There were only a few with flowers however, but i figured ill monitor the patch and see what is left in fall. Anyways yesterday i was there again and what i noticed was every single plant with a flower had all the leaves chewed off them so only stem and flower were left. i took pics even because literally every female plant was eaten this way and all the male plants were in perfect shape. I'm fairly sure it was the work of groundhogs because their dens are littered throughout this park and township. Its pretty insane tbh how many groundhogs are in this area. Anyways i found it super interesting and thought this may contribute to the elussive nature of the ripe fruit. I would also suggest that the name perhaps comes from the month it flowers not fruits.
They don't grow where I live. I'm too far north. Oe day I'll get to try them and I look forward to it. Edit: I guess they do grow up to zone 3, but they aren't common here in Maine.
I don't know what's Adam take on this, but according to Wikipedia, the seeds are toxic as well. I don't know whether an unchewed seed would pass through the GI tract with no harm done, but chewing the seeds would be definitely a bad idea.
Most sources state that the seeds are toxic. However, I haven't been able to verify this claim in any peer-reviewed study. Therefore, I don't explicitly state that "the seeds are toxic" in this video, but I don't recommend eating the seeds either. The seeds are bitter. If you suck on them long enough (while trying to tease apart the jelly) you will detect a bitter flavor that detracts from the otherwise tropical taste of the fruit. Also, it's likely that there is no net benefit to eating the seeds. Even if mayapple seeds aren't acutely toxic, they contain anti-nutrients (to protect the seeds from predation). These anti-nutrients, if consumed in ample quantities, can harm humans. Having said that, swallowing mayapple seeds whole may not pose the same problems, but I still don't recommend doing that. As it turns out, I don't eat the seeds of many fruits (apples, cherries, pawpaws, oranges). The few seeds that I do consume regularly in my diet are processed in particular ways to rid them of their anti-nutrients.
Thanks Adam. I never even heard of them before! Love that when you teach me about something new at my age! lol I'll be looking around next spring where I live in western lower Michigan!
Thanks adam ive found these in my neck of woods here in mid-eastern pa.but wasnt sure of toxicity so didnt eat,which is a shame i too love starburst. I just love ur tutorials on shrooms n edible-non edible fauna!!!seems like i might know you two yrs back i went mushrooming with a fella who worked at a gas station on I-80 near loganton pa.he knew his shrooms we just small talked about them,next weekend he took me out to his haunts,found some lovely oysters.he had an odd hobby he told me he collected roadkill then bleached bones and wire n glued them into window ledge displays,that wasnt you was it,just wondering if i had at actually meet you once upon a time.cool if it was im even more addicated to outdoors from that influence.snooky pa.💥👍😜🤪👌💥
Great video. Looks like eating mayapple is similar to consuming passionfruit right off the vine...or figs off the tree. Also, it's interesting to hear the flavor profile described as 'tropical' similar to pawpaw; another species of wild edible native to North America.
Found and consumed my first ripe may apple fruit this year while out mushroom foraging. Awesome new find for a plant that grows everywhere here in nw Arkansas.
I’m in central Arkansas and I am seeing little green fruits on mayapples in mid March. Wondering when they will be ripe here? I was thinking maybe July?
@@jennr6928 yes I think July and August would be your best best. I went back looking through old foraging photos. Sadly I had none. But I seem to find them most ripe when summer really sets in and we haven't had rain for a while. They taste best when they are over ripe. Little brown bruises.
So lucky to have found some ripe fruit just this week (Aug 22-26) in Southern Ontario. All summer I've been watching communities get knocked out by fungus before producing fruit. I wonder if anyone else has noticed the species having high mortality/low fecundity lately?
For fun can you use a long paint brush and pollinate the flowers yourself? Or if you really love them can you put a wire cage over the most promising plants?
I love em' but they're hard to come across in my neck of the woods. There's plenty of them but it seems like the second they're ripe the raccoons, squirrels, and the like are always a step ahead of me. It was a very good year here in Northern Kentucky as well so the critters didn't horde them all so I was able to get a decent amount this year. I like to juice them and make mayapple lemonade. Something my mom used to make me back in the day. I agree they're best as they are eaten on the spot though. Same as just about all wild fruit.
I have over 5 wooded acres in western part of Virginia Shenandoah Valley and my Mayapples were already withered and gone by mid to late July. Can't even see traces of them anywhere here. These things literally grow all over the place. I think the squirrels got to them early too just like they throw off the Hickory nuts and cherries early as well.
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge as always, Adam. The timing of this video is amazing to me. I'm from tropical South America, and had never heard about this fruit until now. But the past couple of days I've seen squirrels carrying a fruit that looks a lot like a ripe guava--which puzzled me, because I know guavas don't grow here in Maryland. Now I know that it is possibly a mayapple. I will keep an eye out for the plant next time I walk in the woods.
It's funny I was out for a hike with my kids last week and my 7 year old daughter spotted some with ripe fruit quite a distance away. We ended up harvesting 6, first I've eaten in a few years. So tasty!
We have a ton of mayapple, or as I grew up calling them, May flower, but we have so many squirrels and deer and other animals around us that I don't know if I've ever seen a ripe mayapple.
The forest floor behind my house was literally blanketed with Mayapples... Then in the late 80's they began logging out a good portion of the trees and the Mayapples went away. Sad. But I did have a great time growing up exploring the woods.
The Box Turtles Eat Them Like A 3 Year Old With A Bag Of Skittles, In My Area. They Can't Get Enough Of Them So I Never Find Ripe MayApples. I Wish I Did Though.
I remember in grade school reading A Light in the Forrest. The main character was going through a tough time and spoke of doing himself in by eating ''the fruit of the may apple''. I had always assumed the reference was the fruit of jimsonweed. Thanx for the awesome content.
James Whitcome Riley, the "Hoosier Poet" mentioned the pleasure of eating Mayapple fruit as a boy in one of his poems. I was told that the Mayapple is a biannual that grew one leaf it's first year and two the second along with fruiting. I did not understand when and how to eat it till now. Thank You
Adam, thanks for the information and inspiration. I'm heading out right now to check my spots for nuts and mushrooms, and now adding mayapples to the list. I look forward to trying them this year. Much love from the Midwest US 💖
Adam, I have lots of Mayapples on my land in Shenandoah County, VA. Can I propagate these easily to grow more? I’m trying to create a Forest Farm of native edibles. Thanks
back a long time ago and I can't remember how long ago I remember finding some may apples that were green and I do remember trying one it had a green pepper flavor and I know that I did not get sick it didn't bother my stomach but I haven't eaten any since and I don't understand why I didn't get sick if they're supposed to be poisonous or not good for you. I'm just confused I suppose.
I've never seen a ripe fruit. The animals must get to them before they turn yellow. I've seen lots of green ones though. Thanks for this. I'll check more often
Interesting …i tried paw paw for the first time last year. And I had some good passionfruit (may pop). Sounds like may apples are another tropical taste.
Very informative. I have many may apples that grow on my property. I have always heard that they were edible, but when I bit in to one of the fruits, it was bitter so I spit it out. Now I know that it wasn't ripe. I can't wait to try them correctly. I have been educated. Thank you
Seems like a lot of risk and work for a small payoff. For the expert foragers probably not a big deal. For a regular person the risk of eating something this toxic is not worth the risk, imo.
