This lovely bloom has been in my shade garden.

This beautiful bloom has been in the shade garden since we moved here in 2005. The huge leaf is just below it and is tightly wrapped like a cigar. The tips of the leaf are at the bottom, closest to the ground. When the leaf opens, it is huge and beautiful. It is in one of those great spots where the roots are so tight that it cannot be moved.

There are a lot of lovely plants in that garden, some obvious, some difficult to ID. Since it is a shade garden, all the blooms open early and are plain foliage by the end of June.

Does a shade aficianado have an idea what it is?

It a Mayapple of some sort. There are several species, this might be a native. Genus Podophyllum.

Thanks, Mimi. certainly seems to match up with the Himalayan Mayapple. Here I was thinking it was a Connecticut wildflower. Does it grow in your area?

I grew up in Ohio, and wandered in the woods and swamps a lot. There were wild ones there, but I don't know what species for sure. We just called them Mayapples. They bloomed early but after the Skunk Cabbage. Now I am curious, so I looked in my book Perennials by Phillips and Rix. They describe three species, two are Asian (P. hexandrum and P. pleianthum). Podophyllum peltatum is native from Quebec and Ontario south to Florida and Texas (I also lived in those two states but never saw May apples there). Your flower looks just like this one-so it probably IS a Connecticut wildflower! They do not describe any cultivated varieties. Maybe you could start a breeding program and make them bigger and more showy. Oh look, Phillips and Rix say it is also called American Mandrake or Wild Jalap. I wonder who calls them that.

Hi Cathy. I am intrigued that the blossoms on your plant are above the foliage, which I have never seen on my native may apples. In my growing area, it is early for blossoms, which will peak out from under the big umbrella leaves when they do come out, and then the heavy "apple" fruit will appear well hidden below the leaves in late summer. I would consider looking further to identify the species for sure. I think it's fun to grow may apples next to hellebores for a preview of the white blossoms still to come.

Hi, Cathy. Has your plant leafed out yet? Can you post a picture of the leaves?
Seeing the leaves should help determine which podophyllum it is.
The flowers sitting on top of the emerging leaves are sugestive of podophyllum hexandrum,
but my hexandrum flowers are pink. Otherwise looks just like mine.

Cathy: Any decisions on what the plant is? It is lovely.