Descriptive J^otice of the Osage Orange. 



Art. II. Descriptive JS'otice of the Osage Orange (Madura 

 aurantiaca). By T. S. P. 



The following' extract respecting- the Maclurc, is from 

 Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants ; " A spreading deciduous 

 tree, about twenty or thirty feet high, with a yellow axillary 

 berry, the size of an orange, nearly as succulent, and said 

 to be as agreeable when fully ripe." 



The fruit is beautiful and tempting- to the eye, but disa- 

 greeable to the taste. It is, properly speaking-, a compound 

 berry, or berry-like aggregate, growing on very short pe- 

 duncles, and attaining, at maturity, a considerable size. It is 

 globular in its form, with a warty surface ; of a pale yel- 

 low cast, and rather fragrant than otherwise. A tree grow- 

 ing in my garden, yielded this year about one hundred and 

 fifty, many of which weighed eighteen or nineteen ounces. 



The berries are formed at the axils of the leaves, and 

 when they are as large as sycamore buttons, which, in that 

 state, they exceedingly resemble, the pistillate organs be- 

 come fully developed. These organs are filiform, like the silk 

 of the Indian corn, about an inch in length, and very numer- 

 ous. The seeds, however, are generally abortive, owing, 

 probably, to the partial fructification by the pollen of the 

 staminate plant. 



The branches of the tree are armed with a number of rigid 

 spines, — a circumstance which has induced many persons to 

 suppose it may be advantageously used for hedges. It is 

 extremely hardy, flourishes in almost any tolerably fertile 

 soil ; and with sufficient clipping, it is highly probable it may 

 become valuable for that purpose. It would certainly be 

 very ornamental. 



It has also been suggested that the Madura might be use- 

 fully employed in the arts. The whole tree, including the 

 fruit, abounds in a thick milky fluid, which might doubtless 

 be converted into caoutchouc, as it readily assumes a viscid 

 and elastic consistence when exposed to the air. This gum, 

 however, is obtained in such immense quantities from South 

 America, and at so cheap a rate, that it may not be profita- 

 ble to cultivate any of our plants for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing it. Yours, T. S. P. 



Btaverdam^ Virginia, Jfov., 1835. 



It will be recollected that we noticed this plant in our last (I, p. 460), 

 stating that a memoir had been presented to the French institute, in 

 which it was asserted that it would be a good substitute for the Mbrus 

 multicaulis, the foliage of which is so celebrated for food for the silk- 

 worm. By the above excellent communication, from our correspondent, 



VOI<. II.— ^NO. I. 2 



