The Umbrella Plant
By Anita Carpenter
Spring is coming. I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with the colorful woodland flowers collectively called the spring ephemerals. The word ephemeral means fleeting. This adjective perfectly describes these early flowers whose window of opportunity to blossom is very limited. From April into May, these perennials must sprout, grow, and bloom before the tree canopy sprouts its leaves, thus blocking incoming sunlight and shading the ground.
Snow has barely disappeared when mayapples, one of my favorite plants, poke their thick shoots through the earth’s surface. Its leaves are tightly wrapped around the stem. As the plant grows, the leaves slowly unfurl and enlarge. At maturity, each drooping mayapple leaf is dinner-plate-size, circular, about 1 foot in diameter, and deeply lobed.
A young infertile plant sprouts just one leaf that averages six to nine deeply cut lobes, whereas a mature plant displays two leaves, with each averaging five to six deeply cut lobes. Each of the two leaves grows on its own 6-inch petiole (leaf stalk). The two petioles branch from a spot on top of the stem, thus forming a “V.” One flower measuring 1-1/2 inches in diameter forms at the petiole branch site. With six to nine white petals and a yellow center, the fragrant, nodding flower is hidden from view under the still-enlarging leaves. Each flower is short-lived, and not every mature mayapple produces a flower.
After being insect-pollinated, especially by bumblebees, each flower produces one fleshy, ovoid fruit containing several seeds. When ripe, this so-called “apple” is yellow and is about 1-1/2 inches long.
The flower quickly fades, but the leaves continue to grow and remain on the landscape well into summer before they wither. The unique leaves resemble green umbrellas, consequently the plant has been called the umbrella plant.
Mayapples are a woodland plant preferring moist to slightly dry soils and dappled sunlight to light shade. They may form large colonies that continue to enlarge by sending out underground rhizomes and producing new shoots. I think a large mayapple colony is a beautiful, decorative element of the ground cover. If planted in a garden, it can be an aggressive colonizer, often overshadowing other plants and becoming a monoculture.
Sometimes called mandrake or wild mandrake, mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, is a native member of the Barberry plant family Berberidaceae. Suprisingly, mayapple is in the same plant family (but not genus) as the non-native shrub, Japanese barberry, which has often been planted in gardens. This shrub has escaped and now invades forests, oak savannas, and fields. It is considered a terrestrial invasive plant in Wisconsin.
Enjoy the renewal and beauty of our spring ephemerals. With its uniqueness, mayapple will surely catch your eye. Look closely to find and smell the flowers. Happy hunting!
Read the following information from Jim Bray, now retired, of Hickory Road Gardens, Mosinee, Wisconsin: Mayapples
Umbrella plants are invading everything, garden, Y a r d. ,
And total woods! We tried to get rid of them, they came back thicker than ever! How can we destroy these plants! Help!
How to permanently get rid of invading umbrella plants!!
Don — To eliminate invasive umbrella sedge (Cyperus species), use a multi-step approach. Dig up the root system entirely since small root fragments can re-sprout, and apply a systemic herbicide (such as glyphosate) to the freshly cut stems or foliage during the growing season to ensure complete eradication. (Google) Hope it helps — Donna