Osage Orange - The Plant

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

Hey, ask Mary what they taste like?

The hedgeapples themselves taste nasty. This I know for a fact because I got hit in the mouth with hedgeapples on more than one occasion during our backyard hedgeapple wars.

Which hurt, as well as tasted nasty, but it didn't hurt as badly as being hit squarely on the nose by them, which also happened more than once.

I don't recall calling them "monkey brains," but we did sometimes call them "alien brains," probably inspired by the sort of space aliens we saw on "Chiller" and "Outer Limits" and "The Twilight Zone."

Like these guys:



and these guys:



and this guy:



and these guys:



and let's not forget THIS guy:




whm

[Alan Carruth]

Osage orange is actually a pretty 'exotic' tree, in some respects. I've read that when the Europeans first hit these shores it only grew in one river valley in Texas. It was found to make a good hedge tree, since it grows fast, tolerates low moisture and poor soil, and has those famous thorns, and it got spread all around for that until barbed wire came along.

It seems the only reason it had such a restricted range was that nothing much eats the fruit. That's the whole idea of a tree making fruit, after all: something eats it, and later deposits the seeds in a new location in a pile of steaming fertalizer. I'm told that squirrels eat the seeds, but that doesn't help the tree propigate itself unless the squirrels bury them, like they do acorns. One theory has it that when you find something like that, it's a plant that's lost it's main 'vector': the animal that used to spread the seeds has gone extinct, and the plant's in the process of dying out. Since a tree can live for hundreds of years, and many generations can ellapse, the death of a species can take some time. One person found that plants and fruits similar to Osage orange occur in Africa, where they are spread by elephants. So it's possible that Bodark was originally evolved to appeal to mammoths, and, when the Folsum people wiped them out the trees only persisted in river valleys where the fruits could float downstream.

[Mary]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

Based on your experience with monkey brains, Mary?

Nah, based on the fact that I really like apples. My home hasn't been without apples in years. I would rather live without the taste of another hedge apple.

We have a neighbor who has a few Osage orange trees that are at least 3 feet in diameter. The trees are tall, straight and strong. The neighbors said they never plan to let anyone remove them.

[Kitchen Guitars]

I have a buddy with many Acres. I asked if he had any Osage and he wasn't sure. Driving out of his driveway yesterday, all the leaves down I was spotting them a 100 feet away because of all of the green bowling balls laying everywhere lol.

[Mary]

The green balls are a dead give away! He might like to see them out of there and had no idea how great the wood is. If nothing else it is wonderful heat.

[Tim McKnight]

Originally Posted by Taylorplayer

Tim - Are there any pics of those two yet? I'd love to see them.

Hey TP. Instead of detouring this thread I started a new thread to discuss the merits of Osage as a tone wood. Perhaps some other builders and players will chime in with their experience?

[Taylorplayer]

Originally Posted by Tim McKnight

Hey TP. Instead of detouring this thread I started a new thread to discuss the merits of Osage as a tone wood. Perhaps some other builders and players will chime in with their experience?

Thanks Tim! Much appreciated....

[alnico5]

Horses love 'em.