I doubt that few us will ever witness such a congregation of May-Apples as presented in the above photograph but we may very likely see it on a smaller scale if we visit the "natural/wooded" areas of some of our urban parks in the spring (May, probably, as suggested by the plant's name).

      This plant is also a "once seen, never forgotten" item of nature. It produces a single stalk which splits in two and then sprouts two large deeply-indented, broad umbrella style leaves. It produces a flower at the split in the stalk. The flower, in turn, produces the "apple". The plant is about a foot tall and the group of plants form a widespread canopy to grab as much of the available light on the forest floor as possible.

      The "apples" were once collected for making marmalade however the rest of the plant is poisonous.

      It's not known how this plant acquired the name "Mandrake" as there is a European plant well known by that name with a history steeped in folklore and there is no physical similarity between them. A link to the folklore of the "real" Mandrake is provided.