Just an update: The tree has been growing vigorously but did have a little branch die back last winter, that I may have pruned prematurely, so it looks a little thin at the inmost sections but it's coming back strong. The sucker I left to grow is almost the same diameter and size as the main tree and is starting to show white bark. It's on the sunny SE side of the main tree. Leaves are still green and I'm attributing that to timely rains and week long of mid 80's f that came early last week. Picture direction from other side of trunks.

Maclura pomifera IS a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae, but quite a distinctive one. They were once very common in rural farming areas all over the US, though their native range was originally a small area in NE TX and adjoining states. They were used as hedging/fencing, as they formed impenetrable thickets when sheared. They were the original "barbed wire". Now they are generally seen as a nuisance, even a danger with their wicked thorns, and are becoming rare in many areas. In my childhood, they were quite common here. Now, I have *one* on my 105 acre farm, and it's the only one I've seen in years. One oddity of the tree is that although the species is dioecious, the female tree when grown in isolation will still bear large oranges, perfectly formed but lacking seeds (as my tree does). Another factoid: the wood of the osage orange, when dried and burned, has the highest heating value of any native North American tree. Sorry for geeking out. This tree has always fascinated me.

Just wondering what this might be - it looks like a tree but that photo doesn't show it. Thanks.

Referencing @bengz6westmd's distribution post, I think Woody Guthrie had a hidden meaning when he wrote and performed this (and which may just be what a Boxelder Maple's voice sounds like): This land is your land, and this land is my land From California to the New York island From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters (and then some) This land was made for you and me As I went walking that ribbon of highway And I saw above me that endless skyway I saw below me that golden valley (full of Acer negundo in fall color) This land was made for you and me I roamed and rambled, and I've followed my footsteps To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts All around me, a voice was sounding (that Acer negundo again) This land was made for you and me There was a big, high wall there that tried to stop me A sign was painted said "Private Property" But on the backside, it didn't say nothing (pic provided by @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK) This land was made for you and me When the sun come shining, then I was strolling And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting (@ L Clark (zone 4 WY)'s tree, all the way) This land was made for you and me This land is your land, and this land is my land From California to the New York island From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters (Acer negundo, singing IT'S anthem) This land was made for you and me