Maclura pomifera (Raf.) C.K. Schneid.

Osage Orange; Bow wood; Hedge Apple

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Osage Orange is an introduced deciduous tree in the Mulberry family (Moraceae). It is native to the Red River valley area of southwestern Arkansas, southeastern Oklahoma, and Texas. In Alabama it is found state wide, but is most common in the Black Belt region of central Alabama and the Tennessee Valley region of north Alabama. Osage Orange grows in prairies, along fence rows, along roadsides, and in pastures. It is a medium sized tree reaching 60 feet in height. The bark is orange-brown in color, deeply furrowed, and peels in strips. Branches are green in color and armed with stout thorns and spur branches. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, ovate, lanceolate, or oblong in outline, pubescent along the midrib and major veins, with entire margins. The upper surface of the leaf is medium green and lustrous and the lower surface is pale green. The leaves turn yellow-green before falling in the autumn. Osage Orange is dioecious with male and female flowers on separate trees. Flowers are produced in yellow-green globose heads. The heads are either staminate or pistillate, and the flowers lack petals. The fruit is a large, round, pebbly syncarp with deeply embedded seed. The fruit is yellow-green in color and contains a milky sap when cut. Osage Orange was widely planted as a thorny barrier to contain livestock before barbed wire was available. It is also known as “bois d'arc” in reference to its use by Native Americans as a preferred wood for bows. Osage Orange is occasionally grown as a shade tree. A thronless male cultivar is available.—A. Diamond.

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Not Native

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