Maclura pomifera - Osagi orange (Square vase 9x9x20 cm)

Genus of 15 species of evergreen and deciduous trees, usually thorny, with branches often reduced to thorns, found in the woods and clearings of Asia, Australia and the United States. Maclura pomifera is a shrub or small deciduous tree that can reach 10-12 m in height. These plants have a short, wide stem, with grey-brown, wrinkled bark, which breaks into flakes showing the innermost, orange-coloured bark; the foliage is very branched, messy; the branches are rigid, and have thorns in the leaf axils. The leaves are alternate, simple, pinnate, deeply veined, dark green in colour, shiny on the upper surface. In late spring it produces dioecious inflorescences, the female flowers are rounded, 2-3 cm in diameter, yellowish-green in colour, the male inflorescences are elongated and brown in colour. In summer it produces large round infructescences, similar to an orange, light green in colour, woody and leathery, wrinkled, delicately scented with lemon. There are cultivars without thorns, and generally we tend to grow male specimens, which do not produce fruit. The leaves, before falling, take on a yellow-gold color. The American Indians, in particular the Osage tribe, used the flexible and elastic wood for the construction of bows.

Pedoclimatic needs

Grow in moderately fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. Widely used for the creation of impenetrable hedges or in large spaces as isolated specimens.

Botanical Information

Botanical Name: Maclura pomifera

Family: Moraceae