I know, it's not a super big tree, but it is pretty old. My sis and I used to take walks back in the 80's, and this tree was this size back then, so it's sorta old, to me anyway.

Very intresting species. Can easly survive for over a century then resist rot for another century. Wood that resembles stone more so than wood when sanded. Was used (still is by some purest long bow enthuisests) by native Americans to fashion bows. Makes a fine leaf spring for wagons and antique cars. Squirrels love to eat the fruit which is reccomended for many uses around the pioneer home. There is presently a large one standing on our family farm that was large when Grandad bought the place in 1901. aah if only that old tree could talk.

Klem, post Grandad's OO if you live near it now.

Nice looking bark on that tree

This is the IL State Champion Maclura pomifera: Osage Orange

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(click on photo to magnify 2x)

Dax

What are those things hanging down?

Spanish moss. They hang it for the birds for nest building.

Dax

Dax, how tall is it? I thought I recall one near that size up here at the Milwaukee botanical garden.

In our back yard. 47.5"c Nice and straight. Not bad for a single trunk.

That is a nice one tenacre,I never knew it thrived that well around the Great Lakes. So rare to see a straight one.

Those pesky boomers!!

not sure whaas. I thought for certain I could find the information on the IL Big Tree Register and it's not on it, surprisingly.

I'd guess 50'... purely a guess.

Dax

Here's a 'Whiteshield' OO I planted yrs ago (no later pic -- camera died). It's 30' tall now in the most retched "soil" imaginable.

Here's one I "planted" from seed (in center of picture).

"Planted" meaning over the course of a few years, I collected hedge apples from a particularly prolific tree and heaved them up into the air to crash land in an unmowed area. So I do not have an exact year of germination. I'd guess maybe 4 years ago?

I have some new information, guess I thought the tree I posted is a State Champ when in fact there is no Osage Orange IL champion... my friend writes:

There is no Illinois state champ Osage-orange because the silly foresters don't consider it a native species! I've seen a couple that were more than 15', and one just over 20', in circumference. Our Alpha tree is the county champion, about 14', with a very broad crown, and (guessing) about 60' tall.

Dax

Don't worry Dax, I make mistakes of memory all the time. I also try and post about my mistakes as you have also, if I remember screwing up, nobody is perfect. I had read that the OO is native to Texas. The Osage indians used the tree or it's "fruit" in some fashion, and they were a Texas "indeginous" tribe. I screwed up, I remembered that OO I took pics of as growing into that tractor shelter in the background, and it is quite a distance from that tractor shelter.