MOBACEAE. 



35 



MACLTJRA. Osage Orange. 

 (Family Moraceae). 



Trees with axillary spines, fi- 

 brous-flaking bark and milky sap: 

 deciduous. Twigs moderate, 

 rounded, glabrous, frequently 

 dwarf, the longer commonly zig- 

 zag. Pith moderate, round, pale, 

 continuous. Buds rather small, 

 depressed globose, sessile, often 

 collaterally branching or produc- 

 ing stout lateral spines, with 4 

 or 5 scales, the end-bud lacking. 

 Leaf-scars alternate, half-round or 

 broadly kidney-shaped or triangu- 

 lar, somewhat raised: bundle- 

 traces several in a transverse el- 

 lipse or variously consolidated 

 into 3 groups or a composite 

 transverse aggregate: stipule- 

 scars small or the small deltoid 

 stipules persistent at top of the 

 leaf-scar. 



The Osage orange, closely related to the tropical tree 

 (Madura or Chlorophora tinctoria) from which fustic is ob- 

 tained, contains a similar dye-stuff, which has been made the 

 subject of industrial exploitation during the scarcity of aniline 

 dyes. One of its most marked characteristics is the orange 

 bark that peels from its roots in papery layers. The tradition 

 that it was a favorite bow wood with the Osage Indians gave 

 it the name bois d'arc, which has been transformed into the 

 redundant bow d'arc. 



Twigs buff or olive, with spines. 

 Unarmed. 



M. pomifera. 

 M. pomifera inermis. 



