MORACEAE 



OsAGE-ORANGE 



Madura pomif era (Raf.) Schneid. {Toxylon pomiferum Raf.) 



HABIT. A small tree 20-30 feet high and 1-2 feet in diameter 

 (max. 65 by 6 feet) ; rounded open crown with few large, curving 

 branches; extensively planted for hedges and ornamentals. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; ovate to oblong-lanceolate; 

 3-5 inches long; long-pointed apex; entire; thick and firm; 

 deciduous; dark green and shining above, paler and smooth 

 below. 



FLOWERS. Dioecious; minute; appearing after the leaves; 

 the male in dense racemes and the female in dense, globose 

 heads; calyx 4-lobed, hairy; corolla absent. 



FRUIT. Drupaceous; numerous small drupes crowded and 

 grown together into a multiple fruit resembling an orange; 

 4-5 inches in diameter; pale green; containing a bitter, milk, 

 juice; becoming woody. 



TWIGS. Stout; orange-brown; armed with straight, stout, 

 axillary spines about Yi inch long. Winter buds : terminal absent ; 

 lateral small, globular, brown, depressed and partially embedded 

 in the bark. 



BARK. Thin; dark orange-brown; furrowed; with flat ridges. 



WOOD. Hard and heavy; tough; durable; ring-porous; 

 bright orange; used for bows; a yellow dye is extracted from 

 the roots. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; a monotypic genus 

 with a small natural distribution, but now widely planted through- 

 out much of the United States. 



* * * 



Fig 



Ficus L. 



Two species of fig are native to southern Florida, Ficus aurea 

 Nutt., the Florida strangler fig, and Ficus laevigata Vahl, the short- 

 leaf fig. Ficus carica L. of western Asia is often cultivated for 

 fruit and sometimes found as an escape in the southern states. 



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