{"id":1153,"date":"2015-12-13T04:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/?p=1153"},"modified":"2015-12-13T04:00:43","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T08:00:43","slug":"american-osage-orange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woodturningpens.com\/american-osage-orange\/","title":{"rendered":"American Osage Orange"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The tree and the wood harvested from it, commonly known as American Osage Orange, is scientifically known as Maclura pomifera<\/em>.<\/p>\n It is important to be very clear when talking about, and especially when buying, any wood referred to as “American Osage Orange” to be certain that you know exactly what you are buying. Almost always, when purchasing wood called “American Osage Orange” from dealers in exotic tropical hardwoods, you will be buying a closely related species, Maclura tinctoria<\/em> (out-dated botanical names can include: Chlorophora tinctoria, Morus tinctoria<\/em>). M. tinctoria<\/em> is almost always Argentine in origin, although the tree can grow throughout the tropical Americas from Central America to the northwestern tropical regions of Argentina. Conversely, M. pomifera<\/em> is strictly a native of a very limited area of North America. Unless you are purchasing “American Osage Orange” from a wood dealer in North America who specifically indicates that they are selling American American Osage Orange, you are almost certainly buying the Argentine version.<\/p>\n The native area of M. pomifera is quite limited. The tree is native<\/u><\/em> to only small areas of the Red River Valley, which lies mostly in eastern Texas as well as very small areas in south-eastern Oklahoma and a tiny section of north-western Arkansas. However, over the years, M. pomifera<\/em> has been widely planted throughout the United States and even into south-eastern Canada, mostly as hedgerows or wind-breaks. Unfortunately, unless the tree is controlled, it can rapidly become invasive, a situation which has occurred in many areas of the country, especially on land that is not actively cultivated. The tree becomes shrubby, and because of the prolific and sharp thorns, it is not eaten by domestic or wild animals. The fruit, which resembles large green apples, is full of seeds which allow for the natural spread of the shrubby tree.<\/p>\n Due to the widespread introduction of M. pomifera<\/em>, it is possible that the tree and its wood could be harvested from almost anywhere in the United States, although most of the limited commercially available specimens originate in the mid-western United States where the tree is particularly prolific and common. Harvesting is often done primarily for landscape clearing reasons as opposed to timber harvest, but trees of adequate size may be milled for the salable lumber resource. Mature trees may reach up to 50-60 feet in height with trunk diameters of up to 2 feet, and such trees can yield considerable amounts of usable material.<\/p>\n The botanical name references the apple-like fruit, pomifera<\/em> being a Latin reference to apple. Other common names for American Osage Orange also reference the fruit and include, but are not limited to: Horse Apple, Hedge Apple, and Bois d’arc.<\/p>\n For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to M. pomifera<\/em> from this point forward simply as American American Osage Orange.<\/p>\n