Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maclura pomifera
FAMILY
Moraceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Ever wonder about Osage-orange fruit? Read The Trees That Miss the Mammoths.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Maclura at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maclura pomifera
FAMILY
Moraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Maclura pomifera
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Maclura pomifera
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 057-03-001:
Maclura pomifera FAMILY Moraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxylon pomiferum
COMMON NAME:
Osage-orange, Hedge-apple, Bow-wood
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_364
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_mapo_003_lhd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_mapo_004_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_topo2_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow s050316_en
March Rutherford County NC
Leaf scars alternate; terminal bud lacking; spines or spur shoots present.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_pomifera_z
May
The wrinkled, yellowish-green, grapefruit-sized fruits are unmistakable, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_pomifera_9_18_05_2
September
The wood is extremely heavy, fine-grained, famous for making bows, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_pomifera_9_18_05_7
September
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Patrick D. McMillan pdmmpomifera_aiken
Month Unknown Aiken County SC
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmpomifera_aiken1
Month Unknown Aiken County SC
Fruit large & spherical, a multiple of drupelets encased by a fleshy calyx, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmpomifera_aiken74
Month Unknown Aiken County SC
Leaf tips acuminate, bases rounded, margins entire, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Maclura pomifera
FAMILY
Moraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Maclura pomifera
FAMILY
Moraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Maclura pomifera
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Maclura pomifera
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 057-03-001:
Maclura pomifera
FAMILY
Moraceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Toxylon pomiferum
893
Tree
Perennial
Dioecious
Habitat: Dry-mesic to mesic upland forests and woodlands, bottomland and riparian forests, stream banks, fencerows, old fields, pastures, prairies, roadsides, naturalized beyond its native range from extensive planting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, per Weakley's Flora
Native: west of the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & SC, common in Piedmont of GA & SC (uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
DOES THE PLANT HAVE "MILKY SAP"?
Has translucent to milky-white latex (milky sap not always evident in winter)
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Armed with nodal spines
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Mostly alternate
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellowish-green
Radially symmetrical
4 calyx lobes or sepals
4 stamens in staminate flowers
Superior ovary
Unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Multiple of nutlets
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p320
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p144
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p056
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p243
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p251
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p30
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p204
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