Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)

General Information

• Scientific Name: Maclura pomifera
• Common Names: Osage orange, mock orange, hedge apple, hedge ball, monkey ball, pap, monkey brains, yellow-wood.
• Native Region: South-central United States.
• Family: Moraceae (Mulberry family).
• Height: Typically grows 8 to 15 meters tall.
• Fruit: Distinctive multiple fruit resembling an immature orange, 8 to 15 cm in diameter, bright yellow-green in fall.

Botanical Characteristics

• Tree Type: Small deciduous tree or large shrub.
• Fruit Secretion: Sticky white latex when cut or damaged.
• Root System: Thick, fleshy roots with bright orange bark.
• Bark: Mature bark is dark, deeply furrowed, and scaly.
• Leaves: Simple, long oval leaves, 8 to 13 cm, turning bright yellow in autumn.
• Flowers: Dioecious with male and female flowers on separate trees.
  • Staminate Flowers: Pale green, small, in racemes.
  • Pistillate Flowers: Dense spherical many-flowered head.

Historical and Cultural Significance

• Early Use: Used by Native Americans for bow-making.
• Historical Account: First English account by William Dunbar in 1804.
• European Settlers: Used as a hedge to exclude livestock, replaced by barbed wire in 1874.
• French Influence: Named bois d'arc meaning "bow-wood."

Ecological and Conservation Status

• Natural Range: Initially restricted to the Red River drainage of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Chisos Mountains in Texas.
• Conservation Status: Listed as "Least Concern" by IUCN.
• Invasive Potential: Can invade unmanaged habitats.
• Current Range: Widely naturalized in the U.S. and Ontario, Canada.

Uses and Economic Importance

• Wood Properties: Heavy, hard, strong, flexible; used for tool handles, fence posts, bows.
• Firewood: High heating value, burns long and hot.
• Windbreaks: Used in prairie states as a tree row windbreak.
• Dye Production: Yellow-orange dye extracted from the wood.
• Fencing: Used for cattle-deterring hedges before barbed wire.
• Insect Repellent: Compounds repel insects but less effective in natural concentrations.

Ecological and Evolutionary Aspects

• Seed Dispersal Hypothesis: Proposed as an evolutionary anachronism; possibly dispersed by extinct megafauna.
• Food and Foraging: Not poisonous but usually not eaten due to large size and hard texture. Occasionally consumed by squirrels and deer.

Traditional and Ethnobotanical Uses

• Comanche Use: Decoction of roots used for treating sore eyes.

Additional Notes

• Scientific Names and Synonyms: Many synonyms exist, reflecting its historical classification changes.
• Largest Known Tree: Located at Patrick Henry National Memorial, believed to be 350 years old.