Ripe mayapple fruits are soft and yellow, while unripe mayapples are firm and greenish. The fruits are generally ripe in mid-July or August.

How poisonous is mayapple?

The ripened yellow fruit is edible in small amounts, and sometimes made into jelly, though when consumed in large amounts the fruit is poisonous. The rhizome, foliage, and roots are also poisonous. Mayapple contains podophyllotoxin, which is highly toxic if consumed, but can be used as a topical medicine.

What are Mayapples good for?

Medicinal uses: Roots of the mayapple were used by Native Americans and early settlers as a purgative, emetic, “liver cleanser”, and worm expellent. Roots were also used for jaundice, constipation, hepatitis, fevers and syphilis.