Nov 11, 2023 08:15 PM
(This post was last modified: Nov 11, 2023 08:19 PM by Zinjanthropos.)
https://www.britannica.com/plant/Osage-orange
It's November and that usually means a rare tree along the Niagara River is dropping its fruit. The Osage Orange is actually native to Ontario but not common. I can drive the 30km length of the Niagara Pkwy and if I'm lucky there's about a dozen or so. Just so happens two of them are with walking distance of my house. I've not seen them anywhere else in the Niagara Peninsula although people tell me there are some on Brock University endowment lands about 25 kms from here.
Read up on this plant and learned it is known as an Evolutionary Anachronism or simply not in its time or from an earlier time such as the Ice Age about 13000 years ago. Scientists have determined the tree's fruit was once the staple of large North American fauna and as such their seeds were dispersed through the digestive tract of extinct beasts such as Mammoth, Mastodon, Giant Sloth etc. Apparently no native NA animal exists today that will eat the fruit. Horses have been known to gobble up some and thus the nickname Horse Apple. The odd mouse or squirrel has also been known to burrow inside for the seeds.
They have a slight citrus like odor but are not true oranges. From what I understand they're not very palatable. Apparently at one time farmers used the tree to protect fields, the tree's thorns acting like barbed wire. Large swaths of trees were planted in American midwest and thats where many grow today. Some say its the best wood out there.
When first seeing the fruit I thought it an invasive species but local horticultural society says no. Found it kind of interesting to find such a tree and even better to learn about them. Just don't know all what may be growing in your neighbourhood.
Martha Stewart pics of tree: https://www.themarthablog.com/2022/11/th...-farm.html
It's November and that usually means a rare tree along the Niagara River is dropping its fruit. The Osage Orange is actually native to Ontario but not common. I can drive the 30km length of the Niagara Pkwy and if I'm lucky there's about a dozen or so. Just so happens two of them are with walking distance of my house. I've not seen them anywhere else in the Niagara Peninsula although people tell me there are some on Brock University endowment lands about 25 kms from here.
Read up on this plant and learned it is known as an Evolutionary Anachronism or simply not in its time or from an earlier time such as the Ice Age about 13000 years ago. Scientists have determined the tree's fruit was once the staple of large North American fauna and as such their seeds were dispersed through the digestive tract of extinct beasts such as Mammoth, Mastodon, Giant Sloth etc. Apparently no native NA animal exists today that will eat the fruit. Horses have been known to gobble up some and thus the nickname Horse Apple. The odd mouse or squirrel has also been known to burrow inside for the seeds.
They have a slight citrus like odor but are not true oranges. From what I understand they're not very palatable. Apparently at one time farmers used the tree to protect fields, the tree's thorns acting like barbed wire. Large swaths of trees were planted in American midwest and thats where many grow today. Some say its the best wood out there.
When first seeing the fruit I thought it an invasive species but local horticultural society says no. Found it kind of interesting to find such a tree and even better to learn about them. Just don't know all what may be growing in your neighbourhood.
Martha Stewart pics of tree: https://www.themarthablog.com/2022/11/th...-farm.html
