December  15,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
453 
THE  OSAGE  ORANGE. 
TOXILON  POMIFERUM,  Raf. ;  MACLURA  AURANTIACA,  Nutt. 
The  Osage  Orange  tree  is  not  a  very  familiar  one;  it  is  seldom 
met  with  save  in  botanical  collections,  and  its  fruit  is  still  more 
uncommon  from  the  fact  of  the  tree  being  dioecious.  Seeds  of  it 
were  originally  received  in  this  country  by  Lord  Bagot  from  Mr. 
MacMahon  of  Philadelphia  about  the  year  1818;  but',  previously  to 
this,  it  had  been  cultivated  in  and  distributed  from  the  gardens  of 
St.  Louis,  the  tree  having  been  introduced  there  from  a  village  of  the 
Osage  Indians.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  in  passing  that  the 
genus  Mahonia,  embracing  sc  many  handsome  evergreen  shrubs  of 
western  N.  America  and  E.  Asia,  was  so  named]  by  Mr.  Nuttall  in 
compliment  to  the  Mr.  MacMahon  here  referred  to. 
The  Osage  Orange  is  widely  scattered  in  the  United  States, 
luxuriating  in  fertile  soils  in  valleys,  where  it  rises  sometimes  to  the 
height  of  50  or  60  feet,  producing  near  the  ground  numerous  long 
slender  branches.  The  wood  is  exceedingly  hard  and  heavy,  of  a 
saffron-yellow  colour  with  a  satiny  surface  susceptible  of  receiving  a 
beautiful  polish,  and,  moreover,  so  uncommonly  fine  and  elastic  as  to 
have  afforded  the  material  mostly  used  for  bows  and  war  clubs  by 
ail  the  natives  from  the  Mississipi  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
pr.'co  of  a  brw  made  from  this 
wood,  according  to  .  Bradbury, 
was,  in  his  time,  a  horse  and 
blanket — evidence  of  the  esteem 
in  which  it  was  held.  The 
difference  of  opinion  that  at 
first  arose  as  to  the  quality  of 
the  fruit  was  probably  occasioned 
by  its  degree  of  ripeness;  but  it 
would  not  appear  to  be  par¬ 
ticularly  appetising  when  “  filled 
with  yellow  foetid  slime,”  which, 
it  is  stated,  served  the  purpose 
of  smearing  the  faces  of  the 
native  tribes  when,  on  the  war 
path.  The  bark  of  the  tree 
furnishes  a  fine  white  fibre,  and 
exudes,  from  incisions  made  in  it-, 
a  milky  juice  resembling  that 
discharged  by  many  others  com¬ 
prised  in  the  same  natural  order. 
Wood  of  this  tree  received  from 
Texas  was  •  used  for  railway 
sleepers  on  the  New  York  division 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railway 
alongside  of  Oak,  Chestnut,  and 
Catalpa,  the  duration  of  these 
latter  woods  being  from  two  to 
three  years,  whereas  the  Osage 
Orange  was  found,  after  twenty- 
one  years,  t  >be  iu  as  go  al  a  state 
of  preservation  as  wt!  e  i  laid. 
A  specimen  of  the  fruit,  of  the 
sizeofan  ordinary  Orange, brought 
home  this  season  from  Staten  Island  by  a  visitor,  together  with  the 
spiny  leafed  shoots  of  the  tree  (for  which  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  G. 
Baker  of  the  Oxford  Botanic  Gardens)  has  enabled  a  photograph  to  be 
forwarded  to  you,  that  serves  to  i  lustrate  some  characteristics  of  the 
Toxilon  or  Maclura  that  may  be  interesting.  The  verrucose  fruit  is 
represented  as  fal  ing  from  the  tree,  to  show  the  insertion  of  the 
axillary  stalk  in  the  singularly  formed  triangular  basin,  the  sides  of 
wlr'ch  measure  about  an  inch  in  length  with  a  depth  of  nearly  three- 
quarters  ot  an  inch,  the  latter  corresponding  with  the  length  of  the 
stalk. 
The  tree  from  which  the  shoots  were  taken  has  for  many  years 
occupied  a  position  on  a  wall  facing  S.  by  S.W.,  where  it  forms  breast 
wood  of  a  season’s  growth  from  3  to  4  feet  in  length,  and  in  this 
situation  it  has  withstood  a  series  of  many  winters  without  protection. 
Te.e  tree  produces  ample  foliage  of  a  bright  light  gre  n  colour,  the 
upper  surface  of  the  entire  oval  acumina'e  leaves  being  smoo'h  and 
shining;  they  are  3  to  5  inches  long,  from  2  to  3  inches  wide,  and  are 
borne  on  stalks  an  inch  or  more  in  length.  Not  the  least  remarkable 
are  the  prominent  long  stout  spines  so  plentifully  produced  throughout 
the  whole  length  of  the  shoots,  rendering  the  tree  almost  impenetrable. 
There  arc  admirable  figures  of  it  in  Sargent’s  sumptuous  “  Sylva  of 
North  America,”  tab.  322  and  323,  from  which  work  some  of  these 
particulars  are  taken,  as  well  as  from  Nuttall’s  “North  American 
.Plants”  and  “James’ Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,”  quoted  in 
“Loudon’s  Gardeners’  Magazine,”  1826,  vol.  i.,  p.  356. — John  E. 
Jefferies. 
Fig.  77.— The 
(Toxilon  pomiferum,  Roff ; 
FREAKS  OF  FRUIT  TREES  AND— MEN. 
I  AM  troubling  you,  by  parcel  post,  with  an  Apple  for  recognition,  if 
possible.  If  you  can  give  me  its  name  I  will  try  and  get  a  young  plant, 
the  parent  being  left  behind  at  our  old  home.  The  history  of  that  tree 
is  grimly  humorous.  It  has  a  huge  trunk  whereon  was  Mistletoe,  but 
for  many  years  it  had  been  in  the  decline  of  life,  and  the  limbs  died 
where  the  Mistletoe  luxuriated.  Of  course,  the  parasite  died  with  them. 
Thinking  I  would  destroy  the  tree  in  a  more  humane  and  speedy  way 
than  by  the  slow  torture  of  “grubbing  it  up,’’  I  sunk  a  blast  hole  into 
its  trunk  and  let  off  half  a  pound  of  gunpowder.  The  effect  was  beyond 
expectation.  It  not  only  “  shivered  its  timbers,”  but  heaved  up  the 
adjoining  walk,  and  dislocated  projectiles  of  wood  went  through  some 
panes  of  glass  in  the  Orchid  house,  and  others  made  their  way  through 
the  glass  roof  of  another  house.  We  overlooked  getting  the  wreck  out 
of  the  way,  and  as  the  still  attached  remains  put  forth  leaves  with  vigour 
I  left  it  to  make  new  wood,  which  it  did,  which  speedily  became  fruitful, 
and  which  has  borne  Apples  ever  since. 
While  I  am  writing  I  bethink  myself  to  tell  you  of  a  double-blossomed 
Cherry  which  I  have  had  eighteen  years.  There  has  never  been  anything 
unusual  about  its  countless  and  most  double  flowers,  barren  through 
abortive  ovary,  but  plenteous  in  stamens,  till  this  year,  when,  to  my 
wonderment,  there  were  ten  perfect  fruit,  and  they  not  “  wild  ”  Cherries, 
but  beautiful  and  very  sweet  fruit, 
full  average  size  and  of  a  pale  red 
and  primrose  colour.  I  can  only 
think  there  must  have  been  some 
accidentally  single  blossoms  with 
stigma  and  ovary  perfect  ;  but  I 
never  noticed  any  such  among  the 
load  of  double  flowers.  I  have  kept 
the  “stones”  to  see  if  they  may 
have  some  extra  tendency  to 
produce  doubie-flowered  seedlings, 
though  I  think  the  peculiarity  will 
not  be  very  fixed. 
When  I  took  my  former  garden, 
the  fruit  trees  were  in  a  barren 
way,  crowded  up  with  idle  wood. 
Younger  trees  had  leaden  labels 
with  indented  lettering.  Butwhen 
I  f.und  a  “Marie  Louise  ”  ticketed 
as  “Jargonelle,”  and  other  like 
confusions  all  round,  I  was  all  at 
sea  outside  the  shoal  waters  of  my 
own  pomological  Knowledge.  The 
only  Apple  worth  anything  was  the 
illustrious  Cox’s  Orange,  and  this 
name  had  got  on  to  a  “local” 
fraud,  little  better  than  a  good 
looking  Crab. 
I  must  not  omit  mention  of  an 
Apple  tree  in  a  trance  (one  of 
those  removed),  on  which  I  have 
a  set  of  Mistletoe.  I  brought 
two  away,  and  one  went  on  with 
scarcely  a  sign  of  check.  The 
other  has  never  mnde  a  leaf  this 
year,  but  the  bark  is  full  of  life, 
and  the  Mistletoe  has  made  short 
new  wood,  and  is  evidently  in  sound  health.  I  am  wondering  if  the  tree 
can  live  through  the  long  breathless  sleep  that  cannot  break  “till  green 
leaves  come  again.”  I  do  not  know  that  the  parasitic  lodger  can  do  much 
to  help  its  host,  though  Mistletoe  is  quick  to  feel  and  report  any  failure  of 
sustenance. — Amateur. 
[The  heading  to  this  entertaining  narrative  is  ours.  It  was  quite  a 
freak  of  fancy  to  “  shiver  the  timbers”  of  a  tree  with  gunpowder  as  a 
more  “humane”  method  of  destruction  than  “grubbing  it  up,”  and  then 
leaving  the  maimed  veteran  to  its  fate — to  die!  But  it  lived,  grew,  and 
bore  fruit,  as  if  in  compensation  for  the  broken  glass,  as  well  as  to  teach  its 
foiled  executioner  alesson on  restoringold  trees  by  theblasting  process.  The 
freak  of  the  double-blossomed  Cherry  is  no  doubt  explained  by  its  owner. 
More  common,  unfortunately,  are  the  freaks  of  men,  or  boys,  in  attaching 
wron^  names  to  fruit  trees,  and  ultimately  causing  grievous  disappoint¬ 
ment.0  It  is  even  worse  than  buying  trees  of  good  varieties  correctly 
named  by  careful  nurserymen  and  then  allowing  the  names  to  be  washed 
out  or  blown  off,  as  is  the  case  with  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  yearly. 
The  “  tree  in  a  trance”  will  live  till  the  spring  and  then  may  grow,  it 
we  wanted  it  to  make  the  best  growth  we  should  then  cut  the  branches 
well  back  to  sound  clean  wood,  and  thus  concentrate  the  weakened  root 
force  on  a  few  buds  instead  of  distributing  it  over  many.  The  few  might 
then  produce  free  growths,  and  a  healthy  tree  follow  from  the  many. 
Without  such  shortening  we  should  expect  enfeebled  growths  with 
possibly  a  mass  of  weak  blossoms  in  1900,  or  the  year  following,  and  a 
then  stunted,  prematurely  old  tree  to  be  set  going  again  with  gunpowder  . 
Departures  from  ordinary  routine,  however,  seem  to  render  the  cherished 
garden  of  our  friend  the  mere  enjoyable,  and  we  wish  him  long  life  to 
enjoy  it.] 
Osage  Orange 
Maclura  aurantiaca,  Nutt.) 
