Osage Orange, Maclura pomifera

We’ve been out gathering Hedge apples this morning. Even though it’s not edible they look cool! I’m going to use them for a display in my booth at the Healthcare Design Conference HCD13.

The trees are pretty interesting too. The wood of the Osage Orange is the most rot-resistant of any wood that I know of; ideal for fence posts. It was the preferred wood of native americans for bow-making.

Supposedly when Mastodons lived here they ate the fruit and helped spread the tree over North America.