If apples were toxic there would be an awful lot of dead horses around not to mention me. However, Hedge apples have suffocated livestock by lodging in their esophagus. [5] Due to its latex secretions and woody pulp, the fruit is typically not eaten by humans and rarely by foraging animals, giving it distinction as an anachronistic "ghost of evolution". Poison hemlock is a hollow-stemmed biennial, four-feet high, with double compound leaves resembling parsley and a large, white taproot like parsnip. [7][8][9], The earliest account of the tree in the English language was given by William Dunbar, a Scottish explorer, in his narrative of a journey made in 1804 from St. Catherine's Landing on the Mississippi River to the Ouachita River. [10] The fruit has a cucumber-like flavor. In others, falling branches or uprooted trees injure nearby horses. Staminate flowers are pale green, small, and arranged in racemes borne on long, slender, drooping peduncles developed from the axils of crowded leaves on the spur-like branchlets of the previous year. Rough hair coat 4. The fruit can be crushed and the seed after drying can be stratified by soaking in water for 30 days and then planted in the spring. [19] M. pomifera is cultivated in Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, former USSR, and India. [10] A thornless male cultivar of the species exists and is vegetatively reproduced for ornamental use. [40], Compounds extracted from the fruit, when concentrated, may repel insects. Scientific studies have found that extracts of Osage orange do repel several insect species. The twigs are … These common weeds, trees, plants, and shrubs, shown below, are toxic to horses and ponies. Most people use the entire fruit without cutting in half. photo credit: WxMom. [10][28] A neglected hedge will become fruit-bearing. Peaches, apricots, cherry pits, almonds, even lima beans---they've all got 'em. The root system seems shallow and not durable. The fruit is the large horse apple that looks a little bit like a lime green brain 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Hedge Apples and Humans The American Association of … Bois d’ Arc does better in deep soils with more moisture than the very shallow rocky soils. Hedge apples are typically easy to find in stores or farmers' markets. Many plants are poisonous to equines; the species vary depending on location, climate, and grazing conditions.In many cases, entire genera are poisonous to equines and include many species spread over several continents. You can often see bois d’ arc leaning over in landscape situations because the root system has failed. Large chunks of the tree will often die and borers frequently attack the iron-like wood causing further problems. [6] However, a 2015 study indicated that Osage orange seeds are not effectively spread by horses or elephant species. Bois D’ Arc is native to Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas and plentiful throughout the Red River Valley. Nitrites have greater toxicity and can lead to liver damage. [30] Primary components of fresh fruit include pectin (46%), resin (17%), fat (5%), and sugar (before hydrolysis, 5%). If your horse just won't leave the tree alone, I'd recommend removing it. Placement of hedge apples around the foundation or inside the basement is claimed to provide relief from cockroaches, spiders, boxelder bugs, crickets and other pests. [4] It is a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae. The fruits secrete a sticky white latex when cut or damaged. Nightshade Family (including Horse Nettle): The nightshade family (Solanum species) contains many toxic plants, including horse nettle, black nightshade, bittersweet nightshade, some species of groundcherry, and even tomatoes and potatoes. It favors stream bottoms and low areas and can become a weedy invader of disturbed land. Muscle spasms 11. Bois d’ arc reaches its largest size in the Red River and Trinity River Valleys in northern Texas. The distinctive fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, bumpy, 8 to 15 centimetres (3–6 in) in diameter, and turns bright yellow-green in the fall. It is definitely native to the Great Blackland Prairies of Texas. Some people are allergic to the milky sap from the stems, leaves and fruit and develop dermatitis. What humans have discovered is that lots of insects really don't like the glossy leaves, the branches, or the bark of this tree. This way, your horse is getting a s… Can also be grown from the fruit. In addition, apple seeds contain cyanide, a highly toxic chemical to most animals. An apple is similar to feeding your horse straight sugar cubes (which some people do … Convulsions 12. Schneid.) A. Apples make an excellent treat for a lot of horses, and many owners enjoy feeding them. Acute Aflatoxin Poisoning 1. (Moraceae) and the Origin and Early Spread of “Hedge Apple” Folklore,", Murphy, Serena, Virginia Mitchell, Jessa Thurman, Charli N. Davis, Mattew D. Moran, Jessica Bonumwezi, Sophie Katz, Jennifer L. Penner, and Matthew D. Moran. Even the trusty horse-safe stand-bys such as apples and carrots are too sugary. BARK:  The bark is brown to orange – usually deeply furrowed with rounded ridges often interlacing.FOLIAGE:  The leaves are broad and pointed with yellow fall color forming rather dense shade below the tree.CULTURE:  Bois d’ arc is curious in that it grows very fast and easily, almost weed like, but it is sometimes hard to keep healthy and alive in landscaping. Problems include borers, shallow root system, wind damage, trees falling over in wet soils and other related immune system problems.PROPAGATION:  Very easy, can be grown from stem cuttings cut from branches or rather large limbs. They are the perfect size to become lodged in the equine esophagus. The best fitting model for syncarp size evolution indicated an increase in both syncarp size and the rate of syncarp size evolution in the Osage orange lineage. There's nothing like being woke up in the middle of the night from a horse apple falling on the roof. "[15] The trees are also known as "bodark," "bodarc," or "bodock" trees, most likely originating as a transliteration or corruption of "bois d'arc. Apples aren't the only fruits with cyanogenic glycosides, either. Bois d'Arc Maclura pomifera (ma-CLUE-ra pon-IF-er-ah) ​Moraceae (Mulberry Family)OTHER COMMON NAMES: OSAGE-ORANGE,  HORSE APPLE, BOW WOOD, HEDGE APPLE, BODARK, YELLOW WOOD, NARANJO CHINO. As a dioecious plant, the inconspicuous pistillate (female) and staminate (male) flowers are found on different trees. Abdominal pain (colic) 5. Barlow, Connie. The leaves of the Osage-orange are a shiny medium to dark green. The poison is a volatile alkaloid, coniine, found in the foliage all season and in the seeds in late summer. Its dense grain structure makes for good tonal properties. The bright orange wood can be used for fenceposts and construction material because it takes forever to rot. If your horse has an active hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP), potassium is leaked into its blood stream from the muscles continuously. The leaf axils contain formidable spines which when mature are about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) long. Typically, horses would need to consume a cup of seeds to feel toxic effects (that's a lot of apples!). [32] The sharp-thorned trees were also planted as cattle-deterring hedges before the introduction of barbed wire and afterward became an important source of fence posts. [9] The common name Osage derives from Osage Native Americans from whom young plants were first obtained, as told in the notes of Meriwether Lewis in 1804. [31] The moisture content of fresh fruits is about 80%. Anorexia 3. Fever 4. The saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away has withstood the test of time because of the impressive health … If you have horses and a garden, you'll have to be careful that you do not have certain plants on your property. [37][38][39], Osage orange wood is more rot-resistant than most, making good fence posts. It has a specific gravity of 0.7736 or 773.6 kg/m3 (48.29 lb/cu ft). [3] John Bradbury, a Scottish botanist who had traveled the interior United States extensively in the early 19th century, reported that a bow made of Osage timber could be traded for a horse and a blanket. [25][41][42] In 2004, the EPA insisted that a website selling M. pomifera fruits online remove any mention of their supposed repellent properties as false advertising. The mayapple plant tastes bitter and will immediately cause irritation. Bleeding from the nose 8. At present, florists use the fruits of M. pomifera for decorative purposes. Toxic Principles: Cyanogenic glycosides. "Heating With Wood: Species Characteristics and Volumes", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maclura_pomifera&oldid=1000055265, Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America), Plants used in traditional Native American medicine, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 January 2021, at 09:36. Dried citrus pulp (the leftover material from juice production) is a common ingredient in livestock feed and can be used in horse … [20] Another historic tree is located on the grounds of Fort Harrod, a Kentucky pioneer settlement in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Branches contain a yellow pith, and are armed with stout, straight, axillary spines. Search Library Topics      Search Newspaper Columns. "[3], The Comanche also used this wood for their bows. Under severe pruning, the hedge apple sprouted abundant adventitious shoots from its base; as these shoots grew, they became interwoven and formed a dense, thorny barrier hedge. Some historians believe that the high value this wood had to Native Americans throughout North America for the making of bows, along with its small natural range, contributed to the great wealth of the Spiroan Mississippian culture that controlled all the land in which these trees grew. The American Midland Naturalist 180, no. Squirrels and chipmunks love hedge apples; humans do not, but they're not poisonous. The leaves are 8 to 13 centimetres (3–5 in) long and 5 to 8 centimetres (2–3 in) wide, and are thick, firm, dark green, shining above, and paler green below when full grown. Those cuttings did not survive. Although not poisonous, they may cause vomiting. I was always told that hedge apples and the trees were poisonous to cattle and horses, but idk, it beats me. The hedge apple takes many different names, including the Osage orange, the Maclura pomifera and bodark. They also have antioxidant properties that help protect against cancer-inducing oxidative damage, which can lead to various health problems. Each small drupe is oblong, compressed and rounded; they contain a milky latex which oozes when the fruit is damaged or cut. [10] Additionally, a yellow-orange dye can be extracted from the wood, which can be used as a substitute for fustic and aniline dyes. The fruit or horse apples have been historically used to repel cockroaches and fleas. Despite the name "Osage orange", it is not related to the orange. In such a situation, it is imperative that the intake of … Horses that are obese, prone to founder, and those who suffer from insulin resistance need to have their diets tightly restricted in terms of sugar and starch intake. It commonly grows 30 to 40 feet tall, occasionally as tall as 50 to 60 feet. Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, horse apple, hedge, or hedge apple tree is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to 8 to 15 metres (30–50 ft) tall. “Recently people have been throwing out the apples from their trees on the range for the wild horses,” horse volunteer Mary Cioffi said. IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION:  Male and female trees grow to about 50 feet in height and have strong spines on the stems. The use of the hedge apples for insect control is one of the most enduring pest management home remedies. Apple. While residents have been dumping the excess apple crop in the Pine Nuts, volunteers have been gathering them up. Bois d’ arc is well known for growing in fence rows and has been widely used as a windbreak plant because of its tendency to form thickets. The thorny Osage orange tree was widely naturalized throughout the United States until this usage was superseded by the invention of barbwire in 1874. In form they are simple, a long oval terminating in a slender point. Arnoldia 61, no. [3][35] Although its wood is commonly knotty and twisted, straight-grained Osage orange timber makes good bows, as used by Native Americans. Bloody feces 7. Horses and other livestock will sometimes eat the fruit. They are talking about the tiny bit of cyanide in the seeds (If the seeds are actually crunched and do not just pass through as designed to do by nature) But the gravest dangers arise with the few tree species that are toxic enough to sicken or kill horses. The tree's mature bark is dark, deeply furrowed and scaly. Cutting the apple in half makes it more effective. [10] Meriwether Lewis was told that the people of the Osage Nation, "So much … esteem the wood of this tree for the purpose of making their bows, that they travel many hundreds of miles in quest of it. Michael L. Ferro "A Cultural and Entomological Review of the Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera (Raf.) It is a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae. The plant has significant potential to invade unmanaged habitats.[3]. It must be regularly pruned to keep it in bounds, and the shoots of a single year will grow one to two metres (3–6 ft) long, making it suitable for coppicing. [34], The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is dense and prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, and other applications requiring a strong, dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot. [43], "Bois d'arc" redirects here. However, apple peels make a great treat for horses with metabolic issues. Apples are easy to cultivate and tailor to certain tastes because of their resilient genetic diversity. Palmer and Fowler's Fieldbook of Natural History 2nd edition rates Osage orange wood as being at least twice as hard and strong as white oak (Quercus alba). [23] An equine species that became extinct at the same time also has been suggested as the plant's original dispersal agent because modern horses and other livestock will sometimes eat the fruit. According to Vine’s Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest a bushel of fruit will yield approximately 24,500 seeds weighing about 2 pounds and if stored at 41 degrees, the seeds will retain viability for 3 years or more.INSIGHT:  The Native American Osage Indians used bois d’ arc to make bows hence the name, and also war clubs. The belief about the use of hedge apples for insect control is widespread and persistent. It is remarkably free from insect predators and fungal diseases. And they particularly don't like the fruit—the hedge apples. The fruit or horse apples have been historically used to repel cockroaches and fleas. The glycoside podophyllotoxin in contained in mayapple and is toxic to horses should they ingest all or a portion of the plant. Diarrhea 6. Other common plant names include hedge apple, bodark, bois d'arc, and bowwood.The Osage-orange is a small- to medium-sized tree. They all contain a glycoalkaloid called solanine in the leaves, shoots, and unripe (green) berries. [3] A disjunct population also occurred in the Chisos Mountains of Texas. For this reason, most fruits are off-limits to these horses. Oils found in peels may be irritating to the lips and corners of the mouth. They turn yellow in the fall. [19] It has since become widely naturalized in the United States and Ontario, Canada. But, during drought, when pasture grass is sparse, your horse might snack on the trees despite the taste. Very often a Hedge apple is incorrectly referred to as a Hedge Ball, Horse Apple, Green Brains, Monkey Balls or Mock Orange. Pistillate flowers are borne in a dense spherical many-flowered head which appears on a short stout peduncle from the axils of the current year's growth. Formation of hematomas beneath the skin [36], The Comanche tribe historically used a water infusion of the roots for eye conditions. mlkarel2010 is offline Quote Quick Reply [6], Fruit burrowed into by animal eating seeds, Osage orange's pre-Columbian range was largely restricted to a small area in what is now the United States, namely the Red River drainage of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, as well as the Blackland Prairies and post oak savannas. The specific epithet pomifera means "fruit-bearing". For certain horses, even non-toxic treats can have a negative affect on health. Horses love apples, but too many can make them sick and even result in death. According to Benny Simpson’s book A Field Guide to Texas Trees, it is difficult to tell where the plant is native because it has been planted in so many areas. Jaundice 5. 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