OSAGE ORANGE-TREE. 467 



In about the year 181S, seeds of this tree were sent to England by Senhor Cor- 

 rea de Serra, a Portuguese botanist and diplomatist; and, subsequently, plants 

 of both sexes, were imported by the London nurserymen, and trees are to be met 

 with in various parts of the kingdom, varying from ten to twenty-five feet in 

 height, with trunks of proportionate diameters. 



In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, there is a tree of this species, 

 which, in ten years after planting, had attained tlie height of eighteen feet. At 

 Lyons, in the nursery of M. Sidy, there is another specnnen, which has fruited, 

 exceeding twenty-five feet in height. 



Propagation^ 6)'c. The Madura aurantiaca may readily be propagated from 

 seeds, by cuttings of the roots, by layers, and by grafting or inoculation ; and it 

 will grow in any common soil in which the Morns alba will tlirive. As tJie male 

 plant appears to be constitutionally weaker, more delicate, and shorter-lived than 

 its opposite sex, and as its presence is absolutely necessary to produce j)erfect 

 S3eds, it has been suggested that it be grafted or inoculated on the branches of 

 the female tree, in order to add to the size and beauty of the fruit, and to facil- 

 itate in the dissemination of the species. When propagated from cutthigs or lay- 

 ers, and if cut down to the ground after two or three years" growth, it will throw 

 up shoots or suckers six or eight feet in height, and not more than lialf of an inch 

 in diameter, with fine, broad, shining, succulent leaves. In the United States, 

 where the surface of the ground is exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, the 

 maclura, like the vine, the mulberry, and many otlicr trees, should be planted 

 deep in the earth, otherwise its roots will often be injured by drought or frost. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the maclura is of a bright-yellow colour, 

 somewhat resembling that of the fustic, (Morns tinctoria,) and, like the wood of 

 that tree, it is said, affords a yellow dye. It is solid, heavy, durable, uncom- 

 monly fine-grained, and elastic; and, on account of the latter property, it is used 

 for bows by all the tribes of Indians of the regions where it abounds. When 

 wrought, it receives a beautiful polish, of the appearance and brilliancy of satin- 

 wood, and might be employed for inlaying the finer kinds of furniture. The sap 

 of the young wood and leaves is of a milky consistency, and soon dries, on expo- 

 sure to the air. It is insoluble in water, and contains a large proportion of an 

 elastic gum. The bark, like that of the paper mulberry, (liroussonetia,) yields 

 a fine, white fibre, which might be converted into a beautiful linen. The fruit, 

 when ripe, abounds in a sweetish, lacteous fiuid, somewhat acrid and insipid to 

 the taste, which renders it unpalatable both to man and animals. The maclura 

 is also advantageously employed for hedges or live fences, for which purpose it 

 appears to be admirably adapted, as its branches grow close, are armed with 

 strong, sharp-pointed spines, will endure the shears, and for a long time retain 

 their foliage, which is free from the attacks of insects, and the blight. The 

 maclura has likewise been used as a stock on which to engraft the mulberry, 

 and its leaves have been employed, in France, with partial success, as food for 

 silkworms. M. Bonafous, visiting the botanic garden, at Montpellier, in 1835, 

 and observing the luxuriance with which this tree grew, conceived that it might 

 be substituted for the mulberry in the culture of silk. He had a number of the 

 leaves gathered, on which he fed eighteen silkworms, ac their only food, and it 

 is said they produced very beautiful cocoons. A second experiment was made 

 by M. Raffeneau De Lile, directeur of the same garden, in 1830, by giving fifty 

 silkworms the leaves of this tree, during only the latter stages of their existence. 

 They were not fed on the maclura till the I'Jth of May, when they cast their 

 second skins. It is said they never seemed to eat the leaves greedily, although 

 they increased in size as much as those that were fed on the leaves of the mul- 

 berry. In the course of feeding, fifteen of the worms wandered away, and were 

 lost; and during the time of spinning, twenty more died, the latter becoming 



