| I don't know why the Osage Orange is | | | | attempt to dissuade bugs from entering. |
| sometimes referred to has a hedge apple. It is | | | | Wood from the tree was called Bodark because |
| true this hedge plant being a thorny tree has oft | | | | the French noticed that the Osage Indians used it |
| been used as a fence to keep the horses from | | | | to make bows of bows and arrows fame. So |
| jumping over it, the pigs from find their way | | | | bois d'arc became bodarc or bodark. English |
| under it, or the bulls from crashing through it. But | | | | speaking people often referred to trees as bow |
| if you look at the fruit it looks a great deal more | | | | wood. |
| like a mutant orange than any kind of apple. | | | | Like many of the world's most curious objects, |
| When you first see the fruit you may wonder if it | | | | the Osage Orange goes by many names. The |
| is edible. It is not. I looks like a bumpy grapefruit. | | | | scientists dubbed it Maclura pomifera. Other |
| What is true is that the trees were used as a | | | | names are Osage-apple, mock orange, |
| kind of prairie fence before the advent of barbed | | | | hedge-apple, horse-apple, and hedge ball. Some |
| wire. | | | | slang terms for the fruit are monkey ball, |
| Some say that there is something that can choke | | | | monkey orange and brain fruit. |
| a horse-an Osage Orange. You will sometimes | | | | Back in the wild west Hedge Apple trees were |
| hear that farm animals get the fruit caught in | | | | planted close together to form a living fence. |
| their throats. Nevertheless, squirrels will | | | | Hedges formed from these trees were said to be |
| sometimes rip away the flesh of the fruit to get | | | | "horse high, bull-strong, and hog-tight." The trees |
| at the seeds. | | | | also served as wind breaks and shelterbelts and |
| Hedge Apples produce entire trees which are | | | | they slowed soil erosion. |
| male or female. Only the females produce fruit. | | | | The trees can grow to be 30 feet tall. They are |
| The wood is prized as bow wood by the archery | | | | in the same family as the mulberry (Moraceae). |
| crowd. It also make good fence posts that resist | | | | Another name for the tree is yellow-wood. Some |
| rot and it burns well in the fireplace too. | | | | of its wood can be made to produce a yellow or |
| The Osage Orange has been shown to have | | | | orange dye. |
| some insect repellent properties. It contains a | | | | The wood of the tree can be a difficult building |
| chemical which has a similar effect as the | | | | material since it warps when it dries and can be |
| mosquito repellent Deet. In the past, some people | | | | hard to glue. However, it does make for excellent |
| have set out the fruit in their houses in an | | | | and high prized bows. |