Growing up, we come across all kinds of crazy stuff, and we are told all kinds of crazy stories to go along with it. One of those crazy childhood stories I heard about is the crazy green balls we see around the sides of the roads. They are the about the size of a softball and they are green. I was told they were called monkey balls, hedge apples and all kinds of nutty names.
The other day I saw something that got me thinking: Where did those crazy things come from? And does anything eat them? What I found out about this tree is actually interesting.
In our neck of the woods, they are commonly called “monkey balls,” but in other regions, this peculiar fruit and the trees from which they fall are known as hedge apples.
The tree’s official name is Osage orange. In Latin, it’s Maclura pomifera, a member of the mulberry family named for American geologist William Maclure. In hedges, the tree usually grows no more than 20 feet high, but out in the open, it may grow as high as the national champion Osage orange tree, a 350- to 400-year-old beauty in Red Hill, Virginia. It’s 54-feet high with a crown of 90 feet.
The Osage orange fruit, which has a fruity, citric fragrance, they say is not edible for us humans, but squirrels are said to love them. It’s said the green fruit has caused the death of quite a few cows and other livestock that try to swallow them whole. They get stuck and kill the farm animal.
Besides the distinctive fruit and orange-yellow wood, Osage orange trees are known for their long, tire-flattening thorns. The male trees produce the pollen, and the female trees produce the fruit. Botanists are working on development of a male, thornless variety for more friendly, modern landscaping.
Even though you can’t eat them, Osage oranges have many uses. Locally, the fruit can be found at flea markets, on sale for as much as $2 a piece. Out west in Iowa, Osage oranges are sold in supermarkets.
Why would people spend money on inedible, green-wrinkled fruit? Many swear that Osage oranges chase away all manner of bugs from a house. They set them in cupboards and behind furniture as natural exterminators. The fruit and wood of the Osage orange tree does contain tetrahydroxystilbene, an anti-fungicide that may deter insects.
So some of the old wives tales about the monkey balls keeping spiders out just could be true. I also heard they help with lady bugs. I have no idea. I haven’t tried it yet. Just think if it worked on stink bugs. Monkey ball trees would be one hot item, wouldn’t you say?
It’s very common Osage orange trees can be found throughout the Eastern states, although, they aren’t native to our area. They were first found growing in the home of the Native American Osage tribe and the Osage Mountains in the south-central United States. There, in the warmer climate, Osage oranges actually turn orange, looking less like green brains and more like their citrus namesake.
One reason this non-native is so common in our area is that it was the original barbed-wire fence. Pioneer farmers planted hedges of the thorny trees, which served as excellent windbreaks and barriers to keep cattle in (or out, depending on whose cattle they were). An Osage orange hedge was considered “horse-high, bull-strong, and pig-tight,” according to historian Paul Landacre in “A Natural History of Western Pennsylvania.”
Osage orange was widely planted throughout the Midwest during the mid-19th century. The plant even had its own Johnny Appleseed, two of them, actually. John A. Wright and professor Jonathan B. Turner traveled throughout the Midwest, spreading the good news about Osage orange hedges, according to Lloyd Lewis, author of “John Wright, Prophet of the Prairies.”
In 1874, barbed wire was invented, and Osage orange declined in popularity. A recent Yellow Pages survey of Pittsburgh area nurseries found no Osage orange trees. Many no longer even recognized this variety of tree. Even a call to the Burpee Seed Company came up empty.
It’s all kind of interesting. I had no idea of any of this information.
