By December, most plants have shed their leaves and disperse their seeds. There are many fascinating ways in which the plants ensure the dispersal of their seeds to allow successful germination. Seeds ...

Osage orange is a small to medium-sized tree or large shrub, planted across the United States for hedges, ornamental use, and shade. Originally it was found in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The name ...

“Monkey brains!” the kids exclaimed as we reached the old dirt road. I was leading an outdoor school program, and it took me a moment to realize the students were referring to the big, lumpy fruit ...

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species. Nearly 70 years later, the publication has been updated ...

In this edition of ID That Tree, meet a non-native tree originally planted for fence rows, the Osage Orange, also known as a hedge apple. This tree is known by its gray bark with orange undertones and ...

TECUMSEH, Neb. (KOLN) - The Osage Orange tree produces a unique fruit known as the hedge apple, which, although inedible, is popular for fall decorating. The tree’s wood has been used for fence posts ...

The softball-sized fruits of the Osage orange may have evolved to be eaten by extinct megafauna, and their wood is ideal for making archery bows and warm fires. The fruits of the Osage orange tree, ...

If you take a walk in the forest around Halloween, you might just come across a bunch of what appears to be softball-sized green brains laying all over the ground. If you look up, you may still see ...

Each year in mid- to late October, the OSU Extension office fields questions about hedge apples, an oddity of nature which seem to fall from the sky in autumn. These large and heavy fruits with an odd ...

Osage orange trees were again the most popular tree used. The fruits themselves, though technically edible, are described as having a latex that’s hard to remove and known to cause dermatitis in some ...

Osage oranges look like a cross between a neon green brain and a baseball. The fruit is hardy enough to survive fall frosts when they’re grown in container gardens and used in floral arrangements.

This “hardy and interesting” naturalized tree could be a good fit for your front yard. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ January Tree of the Month is the Osage orange. It grows an iconic ...