The Osage Oranges at My Farm
Autumn is the best time to see those warty, wrinkly looking fruits called Osage oranges, and this year, I have a good number of them growing at my farm.
The Osage orange, Maclura pomifera, is actually not an orange at all, and is more commonly known as a hedge apple, horse apple, bowwood, yellow-wood or bodark. These distinctly ugly, almost otherworldly-looking fruits are considered inedible because of the texture and taste, but they are very interesting and fun to grow.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Along one long side of my North Maple Paddock by the run-in shed, I have a row of Osage orange trees. Despite its name, it is actually a member of the fig family.
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- There are a handful of taller Osage orange trees and about 300-saplings we planted several years ago. These are some of the smaller trees in the foreground. The Osage orange is native to a small area in eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Arkansas. This region was home to the Native American Osage Indian tribe hence the name.
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- It is said that the Osage Indians made hunting bows from the beautiful hard wood of this tree.
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- During the mid 19th century, the sharp-thorned trees were also planted as cattle-deterring hedges before the introduction of barbed wire in the 1870s. Afterwards, the Osage orange trees became an important source of fence posts. The Osage orange is also known as a Bois D’arc, a name that was given by French settlers meaning “bow-wood”.
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- This tree is among the tallest in my collection. It has at least 20-fruits growing on it – the largest amount we’ve ever had from one of the many trees planted here. The Osage is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, which can reach a mature size of up to 40-feet tall with an equal spread.
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- If you look closely, you can see some of the fruits.
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- Here are a couple more hiding among the many leaves. The wood of the Osage orange tree is extremely hard and durable.
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- The Osage orange produces a large, warty, inedible fruit that has a distinctive orange aroma.
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- The Osage orange is actually a dense cluster of hundreds of small fruits – many say it resembles the many lobes of a brain.
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- The branches are armed with stout, straight spines. When used as protective hedges, they were constructed by planting young Osage orange trees closely together.
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- The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for making tool handles.
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- Here is the bark of a slightly more mature Osage orange tree. On older trunks the bark is orange-brown and furrowed.
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- The leaves are three to five inches long and about three-inches wide. They are thick, firm, dark green and pale green.
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- There is a line down the center of each leaf, with lines forming upside-down V-shapes extending from the center line to the edge of the leaf.
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- In the fall, the leaves turn bright yellow before they drop from the trees.
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- These are young Osage orange trees – about six or seven years old. They will grow with upwardly arching branches, forming low, rounded crowns. These trees must be regularly pruned to keep them in bounds.
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- Although these fruits are not edible to humans, squirrels relish the small seeds buried inside the pulp.
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- Here is an Osage orange cut in half showing the seeds inside. The pulpy fruit gives a bitter, sticky, milky sap, which has been found to repel insects.
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- Osage oranges should be grown in full sun on well-drained soil. This tough, native plant can withstand almost anything when established – heat, cold, wind, drought, poor soil, ice storms, and rot.
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- Here is a single Osage orange hanging low on the tree – these fruits eventually drop to the floor in late October.
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- Here are some gathered on a tray outside my Flower Room.
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- A few were brought indoors for my kitchen counter – not only will they deter the pesky insects that sneak into the room, but my guests love learning about these interesting fruits. Have you ever seen an Osage orange? Let me know in the comments section – I love hearing from all of you!
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