Last night I spoke to the Royalton Historical Society about interesting springtime plants and wildflowers that can be found in the Gasport area. Among them was the Mayapple, a plant you will recognize from it's massive umbrella like colonies and the dainty white flowers that become a fruit, the Mayapple itself. That "apple" is edible for only a brief period of time, and besides that it is poisonous, as are all other parts of the plant. Its poison is so powerful that it and related plants were once thought magical.
The Mayapple is also known as the Mandrake. That name -- and the alleged magical powers -- led into me noting that's what inspired the name of the comic strip and associated movie character Mandrake the Magician. Jesse Bieber, the town historian, was in attendance and said that Gasport's own Warren Hull played Mandrake in a 1939 serial, something I didn't know. That was quite interesting, as the topic du juor came back full circle to Gasport.
The Mayapple is also known as the Mandrake. That name -- and the alleged magical powers -- led into me noting that's what inspired the name of the comic strip and associated movie character Mandrake the Magician. Jesse Bieber, the town historian, was in attendance and said that Gasport's own Warren Hull played Mandrake in a 1939 serial, something I didn't know. That was quite interesting, as the topic du juor came back full circle to Gasport.
