资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Podophyllin \Pod`o*phyl"lin\, n. [From {Podophyllum}.] (Chem.)
   A brown bitter gum extracted from the rootstalk of the May
   apple ({Podophyllum peltatum}). It is a complex mixture of
   several substances.

Podophyllum \Pod`o*phyl"lum\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. poy`s, podo`s,
   foot + ? leaf.]
   1. (Bot.) A genus of herbs of the Barberry family, having
      large palmately lobed peltate leaves and solitary flower.
      There are two species, the American {Podohyllum peltatum},
      or May apple, the Himalayan {P. Emodi}.

   2. (Med.) The rhizome and rootlet of the May apple
      ({Podophyllum peltatum}), -- used as a cathartic drug.

Duck's-foot \Duck's"-foot`\, n. (Bot.)
   The May apple ({Podophyllum peltatum}).

May \May\, n. [F. Mai, L. Maius; so named in honor of the
   goddess Maia (Gr. ?), daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury
   by Jupiter.]
   1. The fifth month of the year, containing thirty-one days.
      --Chaucer.

   2. The early part or springtime of life.

            His May of youth, and bloom of lustihood. --Shak.

   3. (Bot.) The flowers of the hawthorn; -- so called from
      their time of blossoming; also, the hawthorn.

            The palm and may make country houses gay. --Nash.

            Plumes that micked the may.           --Tennyson.

   4. The merrymaking of May Day. --Tennyson.

   {Italian may} (Bot.), a shrubby species of {Spir[ae]a} ({S.
      hypericifolia}) with many clusters of small white flowers
      along the slender branches.

   {May apple} (Bot.), the fruit of an American plant
      ({Podophyllum peltatum}). Also, the plant itself
      (popularly called {mandrake}), which has two lobed leaves,
      and bears a single egg-shaped fruit at the forking. The
      root and leaves, used in medicine, are powerfully drastic.
      

   {May beetle}, {May bug} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous
      species of large lamellicorn beetles that appear in the
      winged state in May. They belong to {Melolontha}, and
      allied genera. Called also {June beetle}.

   {May Day}, the first day of May; -- celebrated in the rustic
      parts of England by the crowning of a May queen with a
      garland, and by dancing about a May pole.

   {May dew}, the morning dew of the first day of May, to which
      magical properties were attributed.

   {May flower} (Bot.), a plant that flowers in May; also, its
      blossom. See {Mayflower}, in the vocabulary.

   {May fly} (Zo["o]l.), any species of {Ephemera}, and allied
      genera; -- so called because the mature flies of many
      species appear in May. See {Ephemeral fly}, under
      {Ephemeral}.

   {May game}, any May-day sport.

   {May lady}, the queen or lady of May, in old May games.

   {May lily} (Bot.), the lily of the valley ({Convallaria
      majalis}).

   {May pole}. See {Maypole} in the Vocabulary.

   {May queen}, a girl or young woman crowned queen in the
      sports of May Day.

   {May thorn}, the hawthorn.

Mandrake \Man"drake\, n. [AS. mandragora, L. mandragoras, fr.
   Gr. ?: cf. F. mandragore.]
   1. (Bot.) A low plant ({Mandragora officinarum}) of the
      Nightshade family, having a fleshy root, often forked, and
      supposed to resemble a man. It was therefore supposed to
      have animal life, and to cry out when pulled up. All parts
      of the plant are strongly narcotic. It is found in the
      Mediterranean region.

            And shrieks like mandrakes, torn out of the earth,
            That living mortals, hearing them, run mad. --Shak.

   Note: The mandrake of Scripture was perhaps the same plant,
         but proof is wanting.

   2. (Bot.) The May apple ({Podophyllum peltatum}). See {May
      apple} under {May}, and {Podophyllum}. [U.S.]

资料来源 : WordNet®

Podophyllum peltatum
     n : North American herb with poisonous root stock and edible
         though insipid fruit [syn: {mayapple}, {May apple}, {wild
         mandrake}]