Osage Oranges

[Geronimo!]

They're all over the Midwest. They fruit in the fall. Green and resembles a brain. Sort of like this.

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I've heard the seeds are edible, but the mucussy skin is not. I tried a small taste of it (skin & seed) and did not vomit. It tasted like a mix between an orange and a pumpkin. Rather tasty.

Anyways, has anyone cultivated, prepared, or eaten these fruits?

[Ken]

They're all over the Midwest. They fruit in the fall. Green and resembles a brain.

Rick's Brain?

[Sarge47]

Thought they were called something else.

[Ken]

Thought they were called something else.

Well, sometimes "Brain" and "Butt" are synonymous........

[Geronimo!]

Rick's Brain?

Rick's brain on drugs

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[Ken]

Coffee on the monitor again..........

[Geronimo!]

Thought they were called something else.

During the small amount of research I did, Ive come across 5 or 6 different names for it. Osage Orange just happened to be the first name I saw for it.

[Sarge47]

We call them "Hedge Apples!"

http://images.google.com/images?q=He...ed=0CDoQsAQwBA

Of course "Lawyer's butt" is always an option too!

[canid]

when i was a kid i was told they repel insects, and can be used in the corners of a cellar/basement to keep spiders away.

the wood of course is a bow wood of almost mythical renown.

[oldsoldier]

I haven't heard of any edible/medicinal use. However like canid said they DO repel spiders as well as ants. (to bad they don't repel some uncles) they also IMHO make the very best "stick" bows known to man. I'll check my data base to see if the "fruit" is edible.

[Rick]

The fruits are not edible but if you keep the young trees pruned back two or three times a year you can actually make a very thick hedge if they are planted close enough together. You can even train the shoots to intertwine and make a lattice work fence.

[your_comforting_company]

sarge, they are also called bodark trees. all my literature and my grampa in OK says they are inedible.

probably the best use of this tree is it's hardwood. I implore FVR here about staves, as I intend to collect some from grampa's place for bowstaves. my audobon society book tells of a few other things, but the hardwood stands out to me for primitive tools.

canid, do you have any experience with osage bows?

[canid]

nope. there's not an osage tree within hundreds of miles of me as far as i know.

i'd love to lay in a collection, but i keep moving.

[Geronimo!]

Thanks for the info guys. Two things I've read along the way about the tree...

-Between 1/100 and 1/1000 trees are straight enough to make a bow from, hence its mythical status

-You can extract a yellow dye from the wood by letting the liquid from a cut off branch drip into a bowl

[canid]

that's trees good enough to make an ideal bow from. you should see some of the staves i've seen functional bows made from.

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/i...ic,4299.0.html

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/i...ic,1799.0.html

[oldsoldier]

I've got a bow from osage, one of only two that D.E. Brown made from osage. He said it is just to hard a wood to make a bow from the grain is to wavy and crooked to work easily.

[canid]

i hear dogwood is too hard and tough a lot too. doesn't seem to discourage some from turning out fine bows with it.

[Survival Guy 10]

Bow Wood
Bow wood Bow wood

[Rick]

Well, that's just about sums it up now doesn't it?

[Swamprat1958]

We grew up calling them horse apples. Osage Orange or Bodarc is an extremely dense wood and is very heavy. It will dull a chainsaw faster than any hardwood I have ever seen.