Mandrake
Mandrake, the name of several perennial herbs of Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. The common mandrake of Europe and North Africa grows about 12 inches (30 cm) high, and has large, forking roots shaped somewhat like the human body. It has oval leaves and bell-shaped whitish or bluish flowers. The fruit is a nearly round, juicy berry. There is a superstition that the mandrake brings happiness and wealth to households, and that the plant screams when uprooted.
Mandrakes have oval leaves and bell-shaped white or blue flowers.The mayapple, or Indian apple, is a North American plant that is sometimes called mandrake. It is an unbranched herb, found along roadsides and in moist woods and meadows, that reaches a height of about 12 inches (30 cm). The plant has creeping, horizontal rootstocks; two umbrellalike leaves with five to nine lobes each; and waxy white flowers with an unpleasant odor. The egg-shaped, yellow fruit is about two inches (5 cm) long.
The common Old World mandrake is Mandragora officinarum of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The mayapple is Podophyllum peltatum of the barberry family, Berberidaceae.