Common Name: Osage Orange
Latin Name: Maclura pomifera
Address: Kemper Park, Monticello Trail Arboretum
GPS Coordinates: 38.0037606 -78.4785001
Osage Orange is a member of the mulberry family. The distinctive fruit resembles a bumpy orange, but it is inedible.
Kemper Park, a park that includes the Saunders-Monticello Trail, has an arboretum of Native trees and shrubs. The Monticello Trail Arboretum is inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s curiosity for his native surroundings. Start at the base of the trail, and as you enter the park, look to the right and you will see a fine example of an Osage orange tree.
Osage orange has an interesting history. The Lewis and Clark expedition acquired cuttings from the Osage tribe and sent them back to Jefferson, who was reportedly fascinated by the unusual plant. The cuttings did not survive, but the tree spread out from Osage country, and can now be found in most American states.
Indigenous peoples used the wood for their bows, so the trees are sometimes called bow-wood or bodock trees. Before the invention of barbed wire, American settlers used the Osage orange, or “hedge apple” as a hedge. It provided a dense, thorny barrier to keep animals out of gardens and fields.
There is another great example of Osage orange at the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center in Darden Towe Park. Stop by in early fall to see the ground under the trees littered with unusual fruits, also called Osage apples, hedge apples, and monkey brains.
