OSAGE ORANGE
Leaf and fruit, one-quarter natural size. Twig, two-thirds natural size.
The leaves are deciduous, with milky sap and producing stout axillary thorns. They are green on the upper surface, 3 to 5 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide, and turn bright yellow in the autumn.
The yellowish flowers appear in May. They are of two kinds on the same tree—the staminate flowers in a linear cluster and the pistillate flowers in a rounded ball. The fruit is globular, from 2 to 5 inches in diameter, somewhat resembling a very rough green orange.
The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard, very strong and very durable in contact with the soil. The heartwood is bright orange in color, turning brown upon exposure. The Indians called it “bois d’arc”, or bow-wood, and used it for their finest bows. It does not shrink with weather changes. It is largely used for posts; sometimes for wheel-stock, lumber and fuel.
RED MULBERRY Morus rubra L.
THE red mulberry occurs throughout the State. It prefers the rich, moist soils of the lower and middle districts, but it is nowhere abundant. It is a small tree, rarely 50 feet high and 2 feet in diameter, often growing in the shade of larger trees.
