Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
Introductory
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Carey, Jennifer H. 1994. Liriodendron tulipifera.In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/macpom/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
MACPOM
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
MAPO
COMMON NAMES :
osage-orange
hedge-apple
bois d'arc
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for osage-orange is Maclura
pomifera (Raf.) Schneid. (Moraceae) [8,13,28]. There are no currently
accepted infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Tree
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Osage-orange is native to a narrow belt in eastern Texas, southeastern
Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, and the extreme northwest corner of
Louisiana. This belt includes portions of the Blackland Prairies, Chiso
Mountains, and the Red River drainage [4]. Osage-orange has been
introduced into most of the conterminous United States and has become
naturalized throughout much of the eastern United States and the central
Great Plains [4,8,13,28,33,35].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
STATES :
AL AR CA CO CT DE FL GA IL IN
IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MS MO
NE NH NJ NY NC OH OK OR PA RI
SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
14 Great Plains
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Native and naturalized populations of osage-orange occur in rich
bottomland forests and on sandy terraces. On the Trinity River
floodplain in Texas, mostly small (less than 8-inch [20 cm] diameter)
osage-orange occurs in bottomland forests dominated by cedar elm (Ulmus
crassifolia), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), green ash (Fraxinus
pennsylvanica), and western soapberry (Sapindus soponaria var.
drummondii) [18]. In Iowa, osage-orange occurs in a honey-locust
(Gleditsia triacanthos)-black locust (Robinia psuedoacacia)-boxelder
(Acer negundo)-elm (Ulmus spp.) forest [15]. On lower terraces of Salt
Creek in Illinois, osage-orange occurs in a bur oak (Quercus
macrocarpa)-hackberrry (Celtis occidentalis) forest [16]. Osage-orange
is also associated with white oak (Quercus alba), white ash (Fraxinus
americana), and red mulberry (Morus rubra) [4].
In Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama, osage-orange occurs with eastern
redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), black walnut (Juglans nigra), hickory
(Carya spp.), and elm [4].
Osage-orange that has escaped cultivation often occurs as thickets along
fencerows and ditches, in ravines, and in overgrazed pastures. It
commonly occurs with honey-locust in disturbed areas [4].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
Osage-orange wood is hard, durable, and resistant to decay. It is
primarily used for fence posts [4,24].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Osage-orange provides shelter and cover for wildlife. Small mammals and
birds use the thorny tree for cover. The bitter-tasting, fleshy fruit
is generally not eaten, but some animals including squirrel, fox, red
crossbill, and northern bobwhite occasionally eat the seeds
[4,14,24,34]. Seedlings and sprouts are browsed occasionally [4].
Downy woodpeckers use osage-orange as forage sites [10].
PALATABILITY :
Osage-orange fruit and browse are generally not palatable [4,33,34].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
The fleshy fruit of osage-orange is more than 80 percent digestible [25].
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Osage-orange is used for soil stabilization and strip mine reclamation
[3,4,32]. It is adapted to most surface mine conditions but does better
in less acidic, well-drained mine soils. It has a lower soil pH limit
of 4.5. Osage-orange had a 33 percent survival rate 30 years after
planting on mine soils in Illinois and Indiana, and a 39 percent
survival rate after 30 years on mine soils in Ohio [32]. Osage-orange
is sensitive to soil compaction [4].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Early settlers of the Great Plains used osage-orange for hedgerows. The
diffuse, thorny branches form impenetrable hedges which were used to
fence in livestock [24].
Osage-orange wood extractives are used for food processing, pesticide
manufacturing, and dye making. The Osage Indians used the wood for dye
and bows. The strong-smelling fruit repels cockroaches [24].
Osage-orange is planted as an ornamental. There is an unusual thornless
male form which is clonally propagated [19].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Osage-orange is planted in shelterbelts and hedgerows of the Great
Plains. It is planted alone or in a row adjacent to a row of evergreens
or taller hardwoods [34]. Osage-orange hedges are maintained as fences
by pruning [24]. While a favorite of the past, osage-orange hedgerows
are now replaced with species that provide more benefit to wildlife
[14]. Osage-orange is recommended for planting on deep, moist,
permeable soils and medium to shallow upland silty-clayey loams, sandy
loams, and loamy sands. It is not recommended for sandhills or wet,
poorly drained soils [21].
Osage-orange hedges are often clearcut for posts. Winter cuttings
produce the most vigorous stump sprouts which regenerate the hedge [27].
Three to five years after clearcutting, the new sprout stands should be
thinned to 240 stems per 100 meters. The sprouts are susceptible to
fire and grazing [4].
Osage-orange is generally resistant to disease and insects; the only
serious affliction is cotton root rot (Phymatotrichum omnivorum) [4,22].
Eastern mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum) occasionally parasitizes
osage-orange [8].
Hamel [9] describes herbicide application rates, methods, and seasons
for osage-orange control. Triclopyr or picloram, applied with a
chainsaw girdling treatment, are effective against osage-orange [17].
Launchbaugh and Owensby [12] describe preferred osage-orange herbicide
control methods for Kansas.
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Osage-orange is a small, native, deciduous tree that averages 30 feet (9
m) in height. It has a short trunk and rounded crown. Shade-killed
lower branches remain on the tree for years, forming a dense thicket.
Branches growing in full sun have sharp, stout thorns 0.5 to 1 inch
(1.3-2.5 cm) long. Osage-orange has a large, round multiple fruit
composed of many fleshy calyces, each containing one seed. Osage-orange
generally has a well-developed taproot; a tree in Oklahoma had roots
more than 27 feet (8.2 m) deep. On shallow soils, roots spread
laterally [4,7,34].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Osage-orange reproduces vegetatively and by seed. It is dioecious.
Female trees begin producing seeds at age 10 but are most productive
from age 25 to 65. Good seed crops are produced nearly every year.
Seeds are disseminated by animals, gravity, and water. Seeds have a
slight dormancy which is overcome by soaking in water for 2 days or
stratifying in sand or peat for 30 days. Seed germination requires
exposed mineral soil and full light. At 7 years of age, osage-orange is
about 8 feet (2.4 m) tall with a crown spread of about 6 feet (1.8 m)
[2,4,40].
Seed collection, cleaning, storage, and planting techniques are
described [2,34].
Osage-orange sprouts vigorously from the stump [4,34]. Godfrey [7]
suggested that it also sprouts from the roots.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Osage-orange grows best in areas that receive 25 to 40 inches (640-1,020
mm) precipitation a year but tolerates a minimum of 15 inches (380 mm).
It is sensitive to cold and succumbs to winter-kill in the northern
Great Plains [4,34].
Osage-orange grows on a variety of soils but does best on rich, moist,
well-drained bottomlands. It occurs on alkaline soils, shallow soils
overlaying limestone, clayey soils, and sandy soils [4,26,35]. It can
occur on bottomlands which are seasonally flooded [4].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
The shade tolerance of osage-orange is not well defined. It has been
listed as intermediate in tolerance [32] and intolerant [4].
Osage-orange grows in the subcanopy of bottomland forests [4,16], but it
also invades overgrazed pastures and other open, disturbed sites with
eroding soil. Osage-orange regenerates naturally on sunny sites but
grows when planted in dense hedges [4].
Osage-orange in remnant bottomland hardwood forests is negatively
associated with fragment size. In other words, the smaller the area of
remnant forest, the more likely that osage-orange will occur there.
Rudis [23] suggested that fragmentation may promote and accelerate the
establishment of pioneer species and species adapted to disturbance.
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Osage-orange generally flowers from April to June and the fruit ripens
from September to October [2,4]. It flowers in mid-May in Kansas and
Nebraska [28].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Information about the fire ecology of osage-orange is lacking in the
literature. Osage-orange probably survives top-kill by fire.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Small-diameter osage-orange are probably top-killed by most fires.
Depending on fire severity and root depth, they may be completely
killed. Larger individuals may survive.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Osage-orange probably sprouts if top-killed by fire.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
The dead, persistent, lower branches of osage-orange may promote crown
fires.
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Maclura pomifera
REFERENCES :
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
2. Bonner, F. T.; Ferguson, E. R. 1974. Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneid.
osage-orange. In: Schopmeyer, C. S., ed. Seeds of woody plants in the
United States. Agriculture Handbook No. 450. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 525-526. [7700]
3. Brothers, Timothy S. 1988. Indiana surface-mine forests: historical
development and composition of a human-created vegetation complex.
Southeastern Geographer. 28(1): 19-33. [8787]
4. Burton, J. D. 1990. Maclura pomifera (Raf.) Schneid. Osage-orange. In:
Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics
of North America: Volume 2. Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 426-432.
[23833]
5. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Godfrey, Robert K. 1988. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern
Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. Athens, GA: The University of
Georgia Press. 734 p. [10239]
8. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
9. Hamel, Dennis R. 1981. Forest management chemicals: A guide to use when
considering pesticides for forest management. Agric. Handb. 585.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 512 p.
[7847]
10. Jackson, Jerome A. 1970. A quantitative study of the foraging ecology of
downy woodpeckers. Ecology. 51(2): 318-323. [20556]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Launchbaugh, John L.; Owensby, Clenton E. 1978. Kansas rangelands: Their
management based on a half century of research. Bull. 622. Hays, KS:
Kansas State University, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. 56 p.
[9477]
13. Little, Elbert L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees (native
and naturalized). Agric. Handb. 541. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 375 p. [2952]
14. Martin, Alexander C.; Zim, Herbert S.; Nelson, Arnold L. 1951. American
wildlife and plants. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 500 p.
[4021]
15. McBride, Joe. 1973. Natural replacement of disease-killed elms. American
Midland Naturalist. 90(2): 300-306. [8868]
16. McClain, William E.; Jenkins, Michael A.; Jenkins, Sean E.; Ebinger,
John E. 1993. Changes in the woody vegetation of a bur oak savanna
remnant in central Illinois. Natural Areas Journal. 13(2): 108-114.
[21443]
17. Melichar, M. W.; Geyer, W. A.; Ritty, P. M. 1986. Hardwood tree control
with herbicide applications. In: Proceedings, 40th annual meeting of the
Northeastern Weed Science Society; [Date unknown]; [Location unknown].
[Place of publication unknown]: Northeastern Weed Science Society:
210-211. [10484]
18. Nixon, Elray S.; Willett, R. Larry. 1974. Vegetative analysis of the
floodplain of the Trinity River, Texas. Contract No. DACW6-74-C-0030.
Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, Fort
Worth, Texas. [Place of publication unknown]: [Publisher unknown]. 267
p. On file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT.
[20420]
19. Pair, John C. 1991. Maclura pomifera var. inermis `Wichita'. American
Nurseryman. 174(8): 68, 146. [23835]
20. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
21. Read, Ralph A. 1964. Tree windbreaks for the Central Great Plains.
Agric. Handb. 250. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service. 68 p. [2897]
22. Riffle, Jerry W.; Peterson, Glenn W., technical coordinators. 1986.
Diseases of trees in the Great Plains. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-129. Fort
Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 149 p. [16990]
23. Rudis, Victor A. 1993. Forest fragmentation of southern U.S. bottomland
hardwoods. In: Brissette, John C., ed. Proceedings, 7th biennial
southern silvicultural research conference; 1992 November 17-19; Mobile,
AL. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-93. New Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station: 35-46.
[23245]
24. Sand, Susan. 1991. A tree history: The osage oragne. American
Horticulturist. 70: 37-39. [23834]
25. Short, Henry L.; Epps, E. A., Jr. 1976. Nutrient quality and
digestibility of seeds and fruits from southern forests. Journal of
Wildlife Management. 40(2): 283-289. [10510]
26. Simpson, Benny J. 1988. A field guide to Texas trees. Austin, TX: Texas
Monthly Press. 372 p. [11708]
27. Slabaugh, P. E. 1965. A reappraisal of some silvicultural problems of
Great Plains shelterbelts. In: Proceedings: Society of American
Foresters meeting; 1964 September 27 - October 1; Denver, CO.
Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters: 23-27. [12081]
28. Stephens, H. A. 1973. Woody plants of the North Central Plains.
Lawrence, KS: The University Press of Kansas. 530 p. [3804]
29. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
30. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1994. Plants
of the U.S.--alphabetical listing. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 954 p. [23104]
31. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Biological Survey. [n.d.]. NP
Flora [Data base]. Davis, CA: U.S. Department of the Interior, National
Biological Survey. [23119]
32. Vogel, Willis G. 1981. A guide for revegetating coal minespoils in the
eastern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-68. Broomall, PA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest
Experiment Station. 190 p. [15577]
33. Voss, Edward G. 1985. Michigan flora. Part II. Dicots
(Saururaceae--Cornaceae). Bull. 59. Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook
Institute of Science; Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Herbarium.
724 p. [11472]
34. Wasser, Clinton H. 1982. Ecology and culture of selected species useful
in revegetating disturbed lands in the West. FWS/OBS-82/56. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 347 p.
[15400]
35. Wofford, B. Eugene. 1989. Guide to the vascular plants of the Blue
Ridge. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 384 p. [12908]
FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/macpom/all.html
