Range is eastern North America. Common throughout Maryland.
A spring ephemeral wildflower, perennial and colonial, with a creeping rhizome. Roots are thick and fibrous. Leaves are large, round, and peltate (umbrella-like). Petioles are stout and stemlike. Nonflowering stems have only a single, terminal leaf, which is 5-9-parted. Flowering stems mostly have a pair of terminal leaves, which are deeply 3-7-parted, and a large, solitary, white flower nods in the fork between the leaves. Fruit is yellow when ripe (in mid-summer).
Rich woods, thickets, well drained floodplain forests, pastures, and various moist, disturbed habitats.
Pollinated by bumble bees and other long-tongued bee species. Host to Mayapple Rust. Foliage is bitter and toxic, so this species is only sparingly browsed by White-tailed Deer. Ripe fruit are eaten by mammals, which then disperse seeds.
There are 1,743 records in the project database.
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