Identify Osage Orange
It is reported that the Osage Indians made their hunting bows from this beautiful and hard wood, and it is also used to make furniture. From April to June, Osage-Orange puts out its inconspicuous green flowers but these are followed by the very conspicuous fruits.
The fruits are four to five-inch-diameter, rough-textured, heavy green balls which ripen to yellow-green and fall in October and November. These fruits are inedible, the juice acid and milky, but squirrels relish the small seeds buried inside the pulp. When the fruits drop, they can be very messy and, for this reason, male, fruitless trees should be selected if you plant this tree.
Virginia Tech's department of dendrology has more information on Osage-orange. Maclura pomifera Fact Sheet
Comments
This tree is commonly called the horsr apple tree here in NorthEast Texas.
That is, horse apple.
In Illinois we call this (osage orange) hedge or and the fruit hedge apples.
Also known as BOD’ARC in east texas. The osage
used it to make bow’s and arrow’s.the osage indian’s liked it for it’s strength and hardeness.Rancher’s and farmer’s liked to make
fence post out of it,because its naturally
weather and insect proof.There are still alot
of old osage orange fence post through out
texas holdin’ miles of barbed wire ,keeping livestock fenced in.!