Osage orange

Osage oranges littering the ground are a midwestern sign that Fall is here! But, it’s probably not going to replace pumpkin spice and apple cider any time soon. NPS Photo.

While fall may be the time of year that we go frantically searching for pumpkin spice and apple cider, it’s also marked by another botanical distinction along some parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail; the Osage orange! Around this time of year, you’re likely to encounter these bumpy, almost neon green, balls on the ground while kicking through any midwestern forest. But don’t be too quick to think you’re the inventor of the next fall trend! Folks won’t be lining up for an Osage orange donut or latte, as they are extremely bitter and have a reputation for being inedible. But, these fruit are a squirrel’s fall fantasy, as they are particularly fond of the seeds which are buried deep inside the fruit’s pulp.

Meriwether Lewis first documented his encounter with the Osage orange in March 1804 when he sent cuttings, which he’d obtained from Pierre Chouteau, to Thomas Jefferson from St. Louis. I send you herewith inclosed, some slips of the Osages Plums, and Apples” Lewis wrote. “I fear the season is too far advanced for their success.” Chouteau told Lewis he’d gotten the plants "at the great Osage vilage from an Indian of that nation, who said he procured them about three hundred miles west of that place."

Not widely planted in the Midwest until the mid-nineteenth century, Osage oranges belong to the Moraceae family, to which mulberries and figs also belong, and the skin of the fruit often has a pleasant, sweet, slightly citrusy smell. In fact, Lewis also wrote that Osage tribal members reported that Osage orange fruit, “give an extravigant account of the exquisite odour of this fruit when it has obtained maturity, which takes place the latter end of summer, or the begining of Autumn.” Aside from its storied smell, this tree has a long history of uses by both American Indians and pioneers.

Native Names of Plants and Animals