Common names: osage orange, bois d'arc, bodark, horse apple, bodock, osage apple

Scientific names: Maclura pomifera (Toxylon pomiferum)

Seasons of significant use: spring, summer, fall, winter

Characteristics: Native, perennial tree to 63.0 feet. Trunk often crooked; bark on older portions deeply furrowed; branches and twigs often zigzagged, usually armed with straight, stout spines at base of some leaves; wood is orange-yellow to brown, very hard; sap milky; leaves deciduous, alternate, simple, shiny dark green above, turning yellow in fall; plant is dioecious; male flowers in racemose cluster, female flowers in round balls or heads; fruit is a large, globose, pale green, multi-seeded aggregate, ripens August-October. Flowers April-May.

Plant community type: In bottomlands, both as an understory plant and as the dominant woody species in subclimax stages. Also occurs in uplands, especially in open areas and along wooded-open edges.

Comments: Prolific root sprouter.

More Plant Photos and Descriptions:
Appendix C: Plants by Common Name
Appendix C: Plants by Scientific Name
Appendix C: Plants Listed by Family