Both plants are large-leafed perennial herbs with edible fruits, though other parts of the plant are toxic. The American Podophyllum also called mayapple root, devil’s apple, hog apple, wild or American Mandrake is extensively distributed through the Eastern United States growing luxuriantly in moist shady woods and in low marshy grounds from Canada to Minnesota and southwards to Florida and Texas. The drug is collected in Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana.

Indian Podophyllum (Syn: P. emodi, Sinopodophyllum hexandrum) also called Himalayan Mayapple (Sanskrit: Bakrachimaka, Hindi: Papri) occurs in the forests and open slopes from 2400–4500 m. It is found in India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Pakistan. The drug is collected both in India and China. In India, it is distributed in restricted pockets of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, Garhwal and Himachal Pradesh. Other less common species of Podophyllum (P. pleianthum) and related genera (e.g. Diphylleia) also contain podophyllotoxin and structurally related lignans.