Osage Oranges: Blakeman comments

Blakeman elaborates on the Osage Orange. In Central Park a fine specimen, often with the bizarre fruit scattered at its base, may be seen at Tanner's Spring. I find it interesting that while the Ohio legend has it that Osage oranges repel spiders, the Big Apple version has them fending off cockroaches.

Marie,

Osage oranges are the fruits of the Maclura pomifera tree.. Here in the Ohio, they were planted in the 1920s and 30s as hedgerows, where they were planted so close as to turn cattle (not hogs). These short trees have thorns. They were also supposed to stop wind erosion (which actually isn't much of a problem here).

Another advantage of the tree was the wood, which is extremely hard and long-lasting. It was supposed to provide durable wooden fence posts, before metal ones became common. But it was discovered that cutting of the large limbs to make fence posts was extremely difficult. The wood is very, very hard. After slicing off one or two 4-inch thick side branches, the saw had to be re-sharpened.

Consequently, there are a few old, neglected osage orange hedgerows left bordering Ohio farmlands. But the species is not native to Ohio (or Central Park). The tree originates in the Ozarks and the surrounding region. It survives winters easily in the upper Midwest and the East.

It is an otherwise useless tree, having no real purpose outside of its native range. Here in Ohio, the big fruits are claimed to repel spiders. Many farm houses used to have fresh osage oranges placed in the basement each fall. But I'm not certain that the spiders were really repelled. Popular mythology often overrides reality (red-tailed hawks eat lots of chickens and game, it was thought).

--John Blakeman