Maclura pomifera seed

LATIN NAME: MACLURA POMIFERA

COMMON NAME: Osage Orange

The Osage orange pomanders the thorny, deciduous tree with the glossy, oval leaves and the small, green flowers that open through the early summer, the large, round, wrinkled, pale-green fruits following, each fruit pomandering like the heavy orange, the milky sap in the stems and the leaves. The tree grows quickly into the dense, rounded crown, and it likes the sun, and the well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The heavy, wrinkled fruits of the Osage orange give it a recognised place in the research on the thorny hedgerow trees of the mulberry family, and the pomifera species appears in the studies of the durable wood and the hedge-forming habit. The work looks at the way the thorny crown builds the dense screen, the rot-resistant timber, and the seed biology. The foresters value the wood, and the growers of the windbreak and hedge trees keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the sunny ground, the Osage orange pomanders the warm garden with the heavy green fruits. The timber serves the posts, the bows and the tools for the ages, the thorny tree makes the fine, living hedge, and the fruits add the curiosity. It grows well in the well-drained, sunny ground. Heavy-fruited, thorny and rot-proof.

To grow the Osage Orange from seed, sow the seeds into the deep, moist drills of the open bed in the autumn, then cover them well, keep the drills damp, and the young trees break through in the spring.

Keep the drills damp, and give the young trees the open, sunny spot. The pomander fruits come within a few seasons. Settle the young trees in the sunny, open ground, and the pomander fruits will hang within a few seasons.

The name of the tree comes from the Osage tribe, which lived near the home range of the tree, and the aroma of the fruit after it is ripe.
This deciduous North American native tree rapidly grows 30 to 40 feet tall with a spread of 20 to 40 feet and creates a dense canopy, making it useful as a windbreak.
Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1880’s, many thousands of miles of hedge were constructed by planting young Osage Orange trees closely together in a line. Its usage as a large hedge tree in a row planting and the softball-sized fruits of female trees give it the alternative common name of Hedge Apple.
The trees can grow quickly in a good location with ideal growing conditions. They make a decent shade tree within ten years. If you are wanting to grow a hedgerow, plant them no more than five feet apart and plan to thin them as they get bigger.
Osage Orange grows in full sun to partial sun, and is found in zones 4 to 9.
Medicinal use : A tea made from the roots has been used as a wash for sore eyes. The inedible fruits contain antioxidant and fungicidal compounds. A 10% aqueous infusion and an extract diluted 1:1 have cardiovascular potentialities.
Edible parts : One report suggests that the fruit is edible but this is surely a mistake – although very large, the fruit is harsh, hard, dry and astringent. The fruit does, however, contain an anti-oxidant which can be used as a food preservative, especially for oils. The heartwood and the root yield a non-toxic antibiotic that is useful as a food preservative .
Other uses : A yellow dye is obtained from the bark of the root and the wood. Green and orange can also be obtained from it. The sap of the fruit is used as an insect repellent. It is said to be effective against cockroaches. The bark is a source of tannin.