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Have a Look Inside – Osage Orange Fruit
October 21st, 2009 | 
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What better time to write about the fruit of an Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) than during baseball’s American League Championship Series? This photo shows that the fruit of an Osage Orange tree is closer to the size of a softball than a baseball, but I don’t have a cool autographed softball to use for comparison. This baseball is autographed by former Yankee, Dave Winfield – and his old team had a great game tonight! Instead of an “inside look at baseball,” we’re going to have an inside look at a “horse apple.”
This is a copy of a page from an antique tree guide. I really enjoy old field guides because they offer a glimpse into the past. Judging from this photo, I would say that the fruit of the Osage Orange has not changed much in the last 90 years.
top view
bottom view
This specimen weighed in at 24.3 ounces, whereas a baseball weighs about 5 ounces. These fruits are also known as Horse Apples or Hedge Apples, and I can attest to the fact that they actually smell like apples when you slice ‘em open.
If you look at the knife in the picture above, you can see the milky juice on the blade. This horse apple came from a female tree that was successfully pollinated, as evidenced by the presence of the seeds.
The core of the horse apple is a spongy mass, about the size of a golf ball. I extracted it rather inartfully, but you get the idea. I pulled off several sections of the fruit – it was juicy and smelled fine (again, like an apple) – but I knew better than to eat it! I heard someone say one time, “Everything’s edible…once!” And so it is, but these apples and/or the seeds are eaten regularly by horses, cows, and squirrels, among others.
This section of fruit reminds me of a human molar. Anyone with me?
I hope you’ve had a little bit of fun with me–with this inside look – literally! – at a native fruit. I’ll close with a few more pages from my antique tree guide.
Also, a heads-up that no-one has attempted this month’s ID Challenge contest. This is the first month Birder’s Lounge has offered a $5 bonus question, for a possible grand total prize of $15 for the winner’s wildlife/nature/conservation charity. If you’d like to give it a whirl, here’s a link: http://www.birderslounge.com/2009/10/id-challenge-october-2009/
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Havin’ fun masista?? Awesome tidbits you never thought you’d enjoy! xoxo
Yep! Glad you like this. I thought about titling it “Alien Autopsy…” but I didn’t know how many people would appreciate the humor. :-0
I thought only female trees had the horse apples and that the whole horse apple was a result of pollination but I noticed that you said “This horse apple came from a female tree that was successfully pollinated, as evidenced by the presence of the seeds.”
But I am NO tree expert… Will do some more research when I get a chance. I love your comparison with the baseball — size is so relative (something I’ve discovered with ID’ing birds) and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Hi Sandy,
I read in my old tree guide that the fruits of female trees may not contain any seeds if pollination is not successful – but I didn’t express that clearly. Here’s a quote from the page that I pictured in the post:
“…and often seedless where fertile trees stand far from staminate trees and thus miss pollenation(sic)of flowers.”
I had fun with the baseball pics!
Thanks — I looked over the excerpt from the page you copied and did indeed see the bit about the seeds indicating it’s a female tree when you open the horse apple.
I also heard that the bois d’arc wood was used in the Old west era when they first started putting up barb-wire fences because it was so sturdy.
One last comment — I think the horse apple looks like a cross between human brains and a green tennis ball.
Hi Sandy – I thought the same thing about the horse apple looking like brains.
I laughed my tiny little booty off at this post. Why? I was discussing with a friend of mine recently a certain “horse apple fight” I and several friends had many years ago. We launched horse apples into the air and through the trees in hopes of striking our enemies, several other neighborhood kids.
What made it so funny? As far as I knew, “horse apple” meant the fruit of the osage orange tree. But according to my friend who is a horse aficionado and accomplished, capable equestrian, “horse apple” also means…well…horse droppings. So the whole time I’m talking about throwing horse apples at other kids, she’s thinking I’m referring to throwing horse patties. We were SO not on the same page in that conversation…