Osage orange

Is Osage orange poisonous to humans? Are Osage oranges toxic? What color is Osage orange? Osage orange , (Maclura pomifera), also called bowwoo French bois d’arc, thorny tree or shrub native to the south-central United States, the only species of its genus in the family Moraceae. The Extraordinary Osage Orange Tree Osage (Maclura pomifera) is the sole surviving member of the genus Maclura — of its many relatives from past geologic eras, only fossils remain.

Comments: Osage Orange has a relatively low modulus of elasticity compared to its weight and modulus of rupture which helps explain why it is sometimes used for archery bows.

It’s sometimes called Bois d’arc, which literally means “bow wood” in American French. Osage Orange Trees: Durable Hardwood With Alien-Like Fruit Grown for decades by farmers and gardeners across the mid-western United States, Osage orange trees are incredibly versatile and can serve all sorts of purposes on the homestead. The wood of this tree is extremely close-grained and yellowish to orange in color.

Its fruit are wrinkled green balls the size of grapefruit. The Osage orange tree is an unusual tree. On the other han the trees’ yellow wood is strong and flexible, and so dense that it is immune to termites.

Growing an Osage orange tree is fast and easy. I have visited it several times. It is, or was, the most intentionally planted tree in the United States.

Maclura is a genus of flowering plants in the mulberry family, Moraceae. It includes the inedible Osage orange , which is used as mosquito repellent and grown throughout the United States as a hedging plant. I promote and provide Osage Orange as a superior tonewood for building guitars and other fine instruments.

Osage Orange One of the most unusual members of the Mulberry family, whose species are gathered on the south-western edge of the Systematic Beds, is the Osage Orange , Maclura pomifera. This tree bears orange -sized fruit, a lurid neon green in colour, high up in the tree. The gray-brown to orange-brown bark is distinctly furrowed into an irregular criss-cross pattern.

The bark has a somewhat fibrous appearance. You’ve heard of the Osage Indians, but have you heard of the Osage orange ? Latin name Maclura pomifera, the Osage orange is a grapefruit-size pale green, bumpy, ordinarily uneaten fruit with a woody, pulpy consistency that smells a good deal like its citrus namesake. If these fruits are seldom eaten, are they useful for something else?

The genus Maclura contains about species with only one being native to North America. Tropical America and Africa contain the rest. The sapwood of Osage Orange is narrow and light yellow, while the heartwood is golden to bright orange , which darkens upon exposure.

The heartwood can also contain red streaks. Osage Orange is one of my favorite dye sources for creating a range of golden yellows, metallic and russet golds, as well as soft mossy greens. I usually steer clear of using mordants in my dye process with the exception of yellows. Above all I prefer the soft earthy color of mordant-free dye baths.

From several points of view the Osage Orange is a tree of extraordinary interest. A private landowner planted some and the new home owner hired a landscaper to remove them.

Luckily the landscaper is a traditional hunter and bow collector. Got some small, or so diameter pieces. Cracking and Checks do happen in Osage Orange drying Comparison of Janka hardness of woods.