Osage Oranges: I know I said it was the last one but...

Two more letters;
The really last Osage Orange post.

Hi Marie,

I married and set up housekeeping in the late 60's. You may remember this
as a time when macrame was in vogue and homes often displayed wall
pockets made of clay and hung from hooks with leather lacing. These
decorative objects often contained natural plant materials (weeds) and were
considered attractive. Osage oranges could be sliced horizontally, dried, and
strung on wire stems to look like flowers in dry displays. Thank goodness
those days are long gone.

Pat Floersch


Marie,

. . . I did some research online and it turns out the Native Americans used the wood to make great hunting bows. Here's some info from Wikipedia:

The trees picked up the name bois d'arc, or "bow-wood", because early French settlers observed the wood being used for bow-making by Native Americans. The people of the Osage Nation "esteem the wood of this tree for the making of their bows, that they travel many hundred miles in quest of it," Meriwether Lewis was told in 1804.

I'll never forget my first experience with these fruits. I was only a kid in Prospect Park when I pointed out to my parents that they must be oranges because they smelled just like them. It's a good thing they told me not to eat them.

All the best,

Ciro Monaco Jr.