Preserving May Apples???

[Lisa M]

Alicia, I don't know if it would work with May apples because I've never needed to mold a plant, but Jknuth did a great tutorial on making silicone molds.  Here is a link:  http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,39157.0.html  Like I said, I don't know if this method would work for these sweet looking little plants.  But you could try it.

With the plaster, here's what I would do...like I said, I haven't made a mold of a plant though, so this is sheer guess work.  Put some sort of release agent on your leaf...thin coat of vaseline, maybe pam cooking spray that you spread out with a paint brush, something to let the plant release from the mold.  I have old legos that I keep to contain pourings of Bondo etc.  So I'd make a container out of the legos big enough to hold the leaf.  Mix the plaster with cool water.  If you mix it with hot, it will harden or kick sooner.  I like to have a little more working time with my stuff.  If you can do it quicker, great.  Also, mix your plaster in a clean bowl each time.  Any old bits of plaster will for some reason that I don't fully understand, affect the kick time of the new plaster you're making.  So mix up the plaster.  Pour it in the lego form.  It won't take much plaster I'm thinking.  

Once the plaster is in the form, set your leaf in it.  Make sure your edges don't get covered by the plaster or you might have a hard time getting your leaf out.  Let the plaster harden.  It sounds like some folks pull the leaf before it hardens fully.  I am guessing here again, but if you let the plaster harden fully before pulling the leaf, you'll be less likely to mess up the details.  

The fresher your May Apples are before you make a mold of them, the better your finished product will be.

To make the actual leaves from your mold, I would first coat the mold with a couple coats of white glue.  Plaster is porous and might suck up whatever you made the leaf out of.  Then once the glue is dry, put a coating of a release agent on the mold.  Then (thinking of Jknuth's method of mixing acrylic paint & silicone) mix your silicone and some green paint.  Mix it really well.  Then before it starts to kick, put the colored silicone in the plaster mold.  Don't make your leaf too thick, or too thin.  You can precut an old drier sheet to the size of the leaf, and once your silicone is in there, lay the sheet across the back and smooth it down into the silicone.  

Hopefully you'll be able to get many many leaves out of your one mold.  I don't think you'd be able to do small flowers this way.  Much too much detail on the insides of the petals etc.

If anyone knows a better way, please tell us how.  Thank you.  I hope that helped a little Alicia.  Good luck & have fun.  

Fishhunt...that I remember, our apples don't bloom until late May or even into June.    (We had a huge snowstorm while we were watching 4th of July fireworks back in 1992, so really, it's prone to freezing any time of year.)  The peach trees go earlier down in Grand Junction/Palisade, and sometimes they get frozen off for their troubles.  Lilacs don't go until late late April to early June some times.  But asparagus starts popping out in early April.  That one I know because I always pick some fresh for my birthday.  The others, I think I'm right about the time of year...asparagus is the only one I'm 100% sure on.  

[joeym]

Whatever you do, do not eat them, they are poisonous...also, they are being researched heavily in the quest to cure cancer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_apple

[Fishhunt223]

Wow, I guess it is much chillier out there.  If it gets lower than 60 around the 4th of July the farmers start taking out insurance on their crops.  

The plaster mold idea should work.  It works for fish fins.  You will have to mold all parts seperatly and then put them back together.  If you have problems with placing the leaves and such into the plaster, you can lay them out on some sand and pour the plaster over them.  This will give you the exact thickness of the leaf.

Travis

[Wildside]

Joeym- you are both correct and incorrect.  Yes they are poisonous but not all the time.  I know of a farmers wife that makes jelly out of the apples part when it first develops.

[Alicia L]

Thank you for explaining!  I will try that. 

[joeym]

Toxicity

All the parts of the plant, excepting the fruit, are poisonous. This plant can kill humans within 24 hours. Even the fruit, though not dangerously poisonous, can cause unpleasant red/yellow diarrhea. The plant contains podophyllotoxin [4], which is used as a cytostatic and topically in the treatment of genital warts.

[Wildside]

Yes the plant is poisonous, but the fruit is not.  That is what I tried to say.


May Apple Description and Habitat

   May Apple is a perennial native herb found growing in moist soils in rich woods, thickets and pastures Eastern N. America to Southern Maine to Florida, west to Texas and Minnesota. May Apple grows to about 18 inches high, the stem separates into two large, dark green, long stemmed, palmate, lobed, leaves. Looking almost like umbrellas to protect the large white flower on a short peduncle, growing right in-between the leaves, flowers bloom in April to May. May apple flowers turn into crab apple size edible fruits, gather in early summer when fully ripe. May Apple roots are dark brown, fibrous and jointed, gather roots after foliage dies back, dry for later herb use.

May Apple Cultivation
    May apple is easy using to grow using seedling transplants or seed sown in fall. Prefers rich well drained soil and partial to deep shade.

May Apple Herb Uses and Medicinal Properties
  American Mandrake, or May Apple, is medicinal and edible (fruit), used extensively by Native Americans. The fully ripe fruit is eaten raw, cooked or made into jams, jellies, marmalades, and pies. It is very aromatic, and has a sweet peculiar but agreeable flavor. May Apple seeds and rind are not edible, said to be poisonous. The root and plant contain valuable constituents Quercetin, Kaempferol, Podophyllin, Isorhamnetin, Gallic-acid, Berberine, Alpha-peltatin, that are being studied for their healing, anticancer and other properties. The root is used as a medicinal herb, it is antibilious, cathartic, cytostatic, hydrogogue and purgative, it should only be used by professional Herbalists. It is a most powerful and useful alternative medicine. A possible treatment for cancer is being tested as it contains podophyllin, which has an antimiotic effect (it interferes with cell division and can thus prevent the growth of cells). More Info

The resin of May Apple, which is obtained from the root, is used in the treatment of warts. The whole plant, apart from the ripe fruit, is highly poisonous in large doses. American Mandrake herb produces nausea and vomiting, and even inflammation of the stomach and intestines, which has been known to prove fatal. In moderate doses, it is a drastic purgative with some cholagogue action. Do not use wile pregnant, nursing or trying to conceive.

May Apple Folklore
  May Apple was once called the witches umbrella and thought to be employed by them as a poison, which may not be untrue! The English version of this plant has much lore told of it, being called Manroot (mandrake) believed to be alive and its screams when pulled from the ground would render a man permanently insane.

 
 

 May Apple Recipe
Jelly or sweet relish: 
Peel and deseed the ripe fruit and
use your favorite jelly making skills with it.
Also good fresh, but use in moderation.
All parts except the fruit are TOXIC!