Maclura pomifera  

Osage Orange or Bois D’arc

Family: Moraceae
Zone: 5-9                                Average Size: 30’H x 40’W

Identification: 

-Deeply furrowed, orange bark
-Thorny juvenile branches sometimes found at base of tree
-Simple leaf, oblong tapering toward apex, glossy green
-Grapefruit sized fruit, yellow syncarp on female trees in autumn

Note:   Usually a curiosity near the Indian Mounds on the LSU campus where the softball-sized fruit litters the ground in the fall. The Osage Orange is a durable species, adaptable to a wide range of soil and environmental conditions; commonly used a hedge row or windbreak on old farmsteads. Wood from the naturally curved branches was used to make bows where the French name Bois D’arc (bow wood) originates.

Campus Location: Indian Mounds, east along parking lot