Wood ? Ever heard of Osage Orange?

Bigdog said:

2 schools of thought here:

1) It gives off a potentially poisonous gas and should not be used.

2) Best stuff there is, be quiet about it, and let people believe in #!.

I am not sure which one is right. I have heard both.

Click to expand...

• Hedgeapples are not poisonous. However, Hedgeapples have suffocated livestock by lodging in their esophagus.
• Very often, a Hedgeapple is incorrectly referred to as a Hedge Ball, Horse Apple, Green Brains, Monkey Balls or Mock Orange. In Texas, they call them Horse Apples, in fact they write poems about them (click here for the poem). Thank you Nancy for letting us post it.
• The hedge tree has several names, Osage Orange (most popular) and Bodark (French) and Maclura pomifera (scientific name). Naturalist, Jim Mason has posted a very professional page about Osage Orange.
• The Osage Orange is native to a limited area centered on the Red River valley in southern Oklahoma and northern Texas.
• Strangely the oldest and biggest Osage Orange tree is in Virginia. Why isn't it in its native states? I challenge the people of Oklahoma and Texas to find an older and bigger Osage Orange tree and take your rightful place.
• Not all of the Osage Orange trees will have fruit because hedge trees are either male or female.
• Osage Orange is a cousin to the mulberry tree.
• It is rumored that During WWII GI's were fed hedgeapples due to food shortages. If anyone knows the details on this, please email or put in the guestbook.
• Hedge Wood has several top characteristics:
• Has highest strength for primitive bows used in archery. For more information see Mike Easter's Osage Orange page. He is as devoted to Osage Orange tree as I am.
• Highest in rot resistance without additives.
• Dried hedge is highest in BTU's when used as firewood. Hedge wood is the closest to a piece of coal as you can get. Check this link out to see which dried wood has the most BTU's. Mr. Hedgeapple is No. 1 here too!
• Green Hedge puts on the most spectacular light show when burned in a fireplace. Occasionally, I would put some green hedge in our fireplace and watch the fireworks. It emits sparkles constantly and some can go over a yard in distant. There are never large pops, just a constant blevy of very small sparks that would go through the fireplace screen. They were not large enough to mark clothes or carpet when they land. It is not recommend to use green hedge as firewood unless in a sealed stove. However, dried hedge is much more quiet, safer, and has more BTU's than any other dried wood. As with all woods, you still should use a protective screen or shield between the fireplace and the room.
• Could Hedge wood be the best for making string musical instruments?
• Gary Woodall thinks it might be. Check out his instruments (Guitar, Mandolin) Move over famed violin maker, Antonio Stradivari, Gary is here!!
• There is an person in Americus, Ks who makes Harps from Osage Orange because he believes it is the most dimensionally stable of all woods when aged and placed under strain.
• Hedge wood is an attractive yellow wood. Check the pens by Mimosa Custom Pens.