Friday, August 14, 2009
Bowdoc - Bois d’Arc - Osage Orange - Hedge Apple...
Who knew the correct spelling for the common name of the thorny tree which produces very hard yellow/orange wood and decorative green fruit? Always pronounced Bowdoc around here, the correct spelling is Bois d’Arc (French for bow wood). It is also called Osage Orange because Osage Indians used the wood for bows and arrows, and Hedge Apple because before metal fencing, it was planted as a living fence. Source - University of Arkansas Extension News - February 11, 2000, Submitted by Ray Harding.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The tree was native to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and a few other states . It was spread around the country by harvesting and selling the seeds to be planted as living fences in the 1800's.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for the French name for the Bois d'arc tree: The first Europeans in the Osage Indian territory were French Trappers who noticed that this wood was used for bows and arrows.
In more modern times, the wood was used as a very hard and rot-resistand fence post.
The tree is also called Horse Apple because although the fruit is inedible for humans, horses are reported to eat it.
When I hunted quail here in the 1950's it was not unusual to see a long row of these trees where they had long ago been planted as a living fence. Today, many of the fence rows have been cleaned, reducing the number of Bois d'Arc trees and also the quail population