“Monkey brains!” the kids exclaimed as we reached the old dirt road. I was leading an outdoor school program, and it took me a moment to realize the students were referring to the big, lumpy fruit ...

Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) derived its common name from the Osage Indians in Oklahoma and Texas and the orange-smelling fruits. The Latin name comes from William Maclura, an American geologist ...

I feel like a wimp. Here in the Missouri Ozarks, 20 degrees is cold enough to keep me inside, except for those outside chores that need to be done. I have managed to get in a little sawmilling on the ...

Osage orange wood was most commonly used in that era for regular fence posts and building materials and continued as the material of choice for fencing until barbed wire came along about 1880.

If you take a walk in the forest around Halloween, you might just come across a bunch of what appears to be softball-sized green brains laying all over the ground. If you look up, you may still see ...

Over the years I’ve heard many gardeners, local farmers and landscapers say that the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) is a useless, thorny, gangly tree. I agree that the tree is thorny, somewhat gangly ...

Osage oranges? Bah, humbug! They’re totally useless. Even a salesperson with the advertising acumen of a PT Barnum would be hard-pressed to promote them. They’re a harbinger of fall, as sure a sign of ...

Not all firewood is created equal. That’s the word from Dave Bruton, a utilization and marketing forester with the Kansas Forest Service, who said the wood from some tree species produces more heat ...

While traveling through the Midwest on leaf peeping adventures, modern day explorers may find a rather nondescript tree with unique, distinct fruit. A medium-sized tree adorned with large, round, ...

This “hardy and interesting” naturalized tree could be a good fit for your front yard. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ January Tree of the Month is the Osage orange. It grows an iconic ...

Osage oranges look like a cross between a neon green brain and a baseball. The fruit is hardy enough to survive fall frosts when they’re grown in container gardens and used in floral arrangements.

Every fall Osage oranges or hedge apples are found in some supermarkets in the produce section, but they are not edible. They are sold for decoration and to repel insects. These softball sized ...