Mandrake [American mayapple]
Podophyllum peltatum L.
“The active principle, podophyllin, is found throughout the plant, including the seeds and unripe fruit, but it is especially concentrated in the rhizome. The FDA has studied the health effects of this agent and calls it ‘an unsafe laxative,’ citing powers that go far beyond the digestive system. The plant-based resin has been found to affect cellular growth and is blamed for deformities in the children of mothers who took laxatives or dieting tablets containing it. Research suggests that this same property may make podophyllin useful as a treatment for skin cancers, but the drug has damaging side effects. It has been used commercially in creams as a wart remover but again this remedy is unsafe. Podophyllin is sometimes still used as a laxative, but fatalities have resulted from overdoses. It has been used to abort pregnancies, and American Indians once ingested the young shoots in order to commit suicide. Even handling the fresh or dried rhizome or the podophyllin powder is extremely hazardous, as the poison is absorbed through the skin. The eyes are especially sensitive to mandrake.
- Rodale’s
