Bodark* Osage Orange
Maclura pumifera, *AKA Bodark, Boise DArc (French for wood of the bow), Bow Tree, Osage Orange, Mock Orange, Hedge Apple, Horse Apple, insect resistant, repels cockroaches, thorns, weird green fruit, orange tint under bark, separate male and female trees, essentially unchanged for 30 million years,
The most decay resistant wood in USA, and immune to termites Super hard wood 2600 in Janka Wood Hardness Scale, compared to 430 Cottonwood, 900 Pine, 1200 Oak, 2000 Mesquite, 4500 max (Lignum Brazil &. Caribbean Mulberry family (silk worm feed leaves)
Used for hedges (fence before barbed wire), Pig Tight -Horse High Bull Strong, dye, furniture, lumber, tools pully blocks, railway ties, planted around houses reduce bugs thereby reducing mice and roaches
Medicinal Comanche Indians in North America used the Osage orange roots decoction to treat sore eyes / sap used for tooth pain Fruit big green ball, milky sap, not liked by most animals, exception is horses and squirrels Found all over park, but prefers dryer areas, nice groves along Pileated trail and Copperhead trail, native deciduous
*Also known as.