Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)

Also known as Bois d’Arc. 

Osage Orange fruit is green, the size and shape of an orange or grapefruit and contains a milky sap. It is not edible to humans, but it is eaten by livestock and wildlife.   

Osage Orange is easily grown in deep, average, dry to medium moist, well-draining soils in full sun to part shade. It favors rich clay soils. It also tolerates poor soils, drought, heat, cold and wind. It needs a little extra water to get established. Avoid poorly drained soil. Prune once a year if straighter limbs are desired. Sprouts at the base of the tree may be removed. Female trees need a male tree pollinator in order to produce fruit.  

Osage Orange works well as a hedge row, screen, windbreak. Male trees can be effective shade trees in the landscape. Female trees are generally not recommended for landscape use because the fruit poses a litter problem. In a testament to the wood’s durability, an old settlers’ saying was, “Oak posts last a long time, Mulberry lasts still longer, Cedar lasts 100 years, but Bois d’Arc lasts forever.” (Tarpley, Fred; “Wood Eternal”, p. 208)