Economic Botany

, Volume 28, Issue 1, pp 68–72 | Cite as

Podophyllum peltatum —may apple a potential new cash-crop plant of eastern North America

  • Willem Meijer
Article
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Abstract

In this paper a survey is given of the present knowledge of the medicinal value of May apple,Podophyllum peltatum, a plant which is common in the whole deciduous forest region of eastern North America. Intensive chemical, pharmacological and clinical research has shown that Podophyllum is a very valuable medicinal plant because it contains drugs which can effectively be used against certain virus and skin cancer diseases. The plant is so much in demand in the drug trade that selection of high yielding clones and cultivation might be contemplated. A review of the literature shows that surprisingly little is known yet about the flower biology, seed germination and productivity of this common plant. From various herbarium sources a distribution map has been compiled and the author tries to interpret this by comparing it with a number of climatic parameters. This might stimulate experimental work on the climatic requirements of May apple and it shows where optimum conditions exist for its eventual cultivation on a commercial scale.

Keywords

Economic Botany Venereal Wart Podophyllotoxin Podophyllin Podophyllum Hexandrum 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© The New York Botanical Garden 1974

Authors and Affiliations

  • Willem Meijer
    • 1
  1. 1.T. H. Morgan School of Biological SciencesUniversity of KentuckyLexington

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