Way off topic - Hedge apples are ripe

I do a lab with my high school bio students where they count the seeds in
osage oranges and estimate seed production of trees. It is an interesting
tree, one of a few native species (which would include honey locust and Kentucky
Coffee tree) that apparently were dispersed by species of "megafauna" such as
ground sloths or prehistoric horses (not the introduced ones we now have)
and had thorns for probable defense against large herbivores. The students
find the fruits fascinating, but they are difficult to work with, gloves are
best as the latex is hard to remove and itchy to some. It also destroyed our
dissection scalpels, they latex won't wash off with soap and water, one needs
nasty stuff like acetone to get it off the blades, but then the plastic
handles are weakened. So this year I am going to use a large knife to quarter the
fruits, and plastic disposable knives for the students to pick out the seeds.

I just gathered fruits 2 days ago from under a tree alongside the Bronx
River Parkway in White Plains for the lab tomorrow, but I know of another couple
of trees near the Bronx River Pkwy entrance from Allerton Ave in the Bronx
that also produce fruit.
I've always thought it odd that the osage orange looks and smells like
citrus, and has leaves that resemble many citrus trees, with spiny branches, but
is in the mulberry family. Coincidence perhaps?
Ernie DeMarie z6/7
Tuckahoe NY Where Gloxinia nematanthoides "Evita" is blooming up a storm
along the wall at my school garden, where its rhizomes overwintered against the
building wall. More people should grow it, it is stunning in the ground or
in a pot.

In a message dated 10/16/2008 11:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
jwaddick@kc.rr.com writes:

Dear Friends,
Gardeners on both coasts may not be aware of our mid-western
'Hedge Apples' (Maclura pomifera).

Today's local paper, the Kansas City Star, had a lovely
picture of a lawn littered with green bowling ball size fruit. This
tree is native to a fairly small area in the center of the US, but
uncommon more widely. Also known as Osage Orange and Bois D'arc. This
is a large tree, normally pretty anonymous to most people. This time
of year the large chartreuse green soft-ball size fruits are highly
visible on the trees (to 50 ft and more tall) and the fallen fruits
litter the ground.
They are very attractive; see:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/…
0px-Osage_orange_1.jpg

but essentially useless. These fruit litter sidewalks and
road sides. They are very dense, solid and difficult to cut. They
ooze a sticky latex like sap and can literally cause damage to
vehicles parked under them.

The wood is strong, dense and very useful particularly for
fence posts and at one time bows (thus the Bois d'arc name) . The
trees are densely branched and bear many evil sharp thorns, but are
impervious to most insects and disease. Thus modern cultivars have
been developed as street trees from thornless, fruitless strains.

The fruits are abundant now and very beautiful from afar. You
just don't want to get too close or handle them much.

More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage-orange/

Just FYI. Best Jim W.

(We have a first un - forecast light frost last night. Enough
procrastinating !)
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +

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