Osage Apple (Orange) (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)
The tree and fruit that Meriwether Lewis would call the Osage Plum or Apple when he wrote back to President Jefferson in March 1804, is today known as the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera). But most people now know the large, lumpy fruit as a “hedge apple.”
Lewis sent back some slips of the trees from St. Louis with the letter, in which he wrote, “I send you herewith inclosed, some slips of the Osages Plums, and Apples…I obtained the cuttings, now sent you, from the garden of Mr. Peter Choteau, who resided the greater portion of his time for many years with the Osage nation...”
It was from the branch wood of the Osage orange that the Native peoples made their highly prized bows. Osage orange bows were prime items of barter among the tribes -- one early report said that in the early 1800s the price of a good Osage orange bow was a horse and a blanket. Tribal battles were fought for possession of lands generously supplied with Osage orange trees. So sought after was the Osage orange bow, it was used by Shawnee and Wyandotte in Ohio and by the Blackfeet in Montana. These bows must have been traded and traveled over a distance of more than 2,000 miles.
Indians had other uses for the Osage orange. The stout wood was well suited for war clubs and tomahawk handles. The ridged and scaly bark of the trunk provided both a fiber for rope and tannin for making leather. Root tea was used to wash sore eyes and the roots and inner bark were used to make a light orange dye.
As settlers began migrating west during the 19th century, they quickly found that Osage orange trees were ideal for hedges to control livestock, long before barbed wire was invented. The wood is the strongest of any tree grown in North America, and its thick, sharp spikes are a serious deterrent. In other words, Osage orange trees make a great fence.
It was quickly learned that a single row of hedge trees planted a foot apart would yield a fence that was "horse high, bull-strong, and hog-tight" in four years. Some farmers would weave the already twisted and intertwined limbs of the young trees tightly together, a technique known as "plashing," for a more impenetrable barrier.
Osage orange rows have been rapidly disappearing from the Midwest. No longer needed as fence or other uses, the once extensive patchwork of hedge rows is now marked only by scattered remnants. But, recently, chemists have begun looking inside Osage oranges and have found a number of compounds that may be of use for food processing, pesticides, antibiotics, and other medical products.
Osage oranges are foraged by fruit enthusiasts as a natural air freshener, decorative element, natural insect repellent, and the seeds are extracted and roasted as a culinary snack.
The fruit is not poisonous to humans or livestock, but is not preferred by them, because it is mostly inedible due to a large size (about the diameter of a softball) and hard, dry texture. The edible seeds of the fruit are used by squirrels as food.
While some animals, such as squirrels, may eat the seeds within, hedgeballs are not considered edible for humans. Consuming them can lead to gastrointestinal discomfort, and the sap can be an irritant.
Indians had other uses for the Osage orange. The stout wood was well suited for war clubs and tomahawk handles. The ridged and scaly bark of the trunk provided both a fiber for rope and tannin for making leather. Root tea was used to wash sore eyes and the roots and inner bark were used to make a light orange dye.
A tea made from the roots has been used as a wash for sore eyes. The inedible fruits contain antioxidant and fungicidal compounds. A 10% aqueous infusion and an extract diluted 1:1 have cardiovascular potentialities.
In parts of China, the monkey's brain is eaten raw. While it is most likely an urban legend, some people claim that monkeys' brains are, or were, eaten from the head of a live monkey.
Osage Orange is extremely durable and is considered to be one of the most decay resistant woods in North America. Working this wood can be difficult due to its hardness and density, though it is reported to have little dulling effect on cutting edges. It turns well, and also takes stains, glues, and finishes well.
The “hedge apple” is the yellow-green, softball-sized fruit of the Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera). The Osage-orange is a small- to medium-sized tree. It commonly grows 25 to 30 feet tall. The Osage-orange is dioecious.
A crab apple's flesh is perfectly safe for people to eat. But like other apples, the seeds contain a toxic compound that can turn into cyanide when eaten. But don't worry — these apples are safe as long as you avoid the seeds and core.
Osage orange are not toxic to dogs. Snap a photo for instant plant ID, gaining quick insights on disease prevention, treatment, toxicity, care, uses, and symbolism, etc.
Even more confusingly, the most common name for their fruit is hedge apple (though they're also called horse apples, Irish snowballs, or monkey brains). Not many animals or humans eat these neither-oranges-nor-apples.
Not widely planted in the Midwest until the mid-nineteenth century, Osage oranges belong to the Moraceae family, to which mulberries and figs also belong, and the skin of the fruit often has a pleasant, sweet, slightly citrusy smell.
But any woodworker who has seen the vibrant orange to bright yellow tones of Osage-orange heartwood may find it hard to forget. It's an excellent choice for small specialty projects, including knife handles, jewelry, inlays for boxes, plane soles, musical instruments, pens, bottle stoppers, bowls, and more.
Perhaps surprisingly, the fruits, though tough and sticky, are readily torn apart by squirrels that seek out the pulp and seeds. Even northern bobwhite consume the seeds when encountering a torn-apart fruit. Even more, white-tailed deer, especially bucks, consume the fruits from time to time.
Osage Orange is extremely durable and is considered to be one of the most decay resistant woods in North America. Working this wood can be difficult due to its hardness and density, though it is reported to have little dulling effect on cutting edges. It turns well, and also takes stains, glues, and finishes well.
Around the holidays, creative decorators use preserved Osage oranges in wreaths, to adorn tablescapes and create stacked pyramids in urns. Preservation of these nubby, chartreuse balls can be had by suspending them by their stem on a long string, untouched for several weeks (P. Haven, J.
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