r/PlantIdentification • u/Qwqallison • Oct 12 '25
What the heck is this?
I live in Ohio for context, I was on a walk in the woods and found this monstrosity
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u/Inside-Beyond-4672 Oct 12 '25
Osage orange. Full of latex. Supposedly, people roast and eat the seeds, but They are going to be messy to harvest and I don't know anybody who actually did it. You're supposed to be able to find a video about it somewhere. The tree itself has very hard wood that they used to use in fence posts.
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u/NoBuilder2444 Oct 12 '25
Historically the trees were planted close together to grow a living fence. Even longer ago the fruits were eaten by wooly mammoths and other extinct animals.
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u/milyfaz Oct 13 '25
Monkey balls!!!! šThat's what they are called is sw Pennsylvania. The first answer is right, they're old age oranges. At my Old house they cover the private road up to the house and love to run them over with my car.
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u/Reasonable_Drama_214 Oct 13 '25
We called them monkey brains growing up in Ohio
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u/Qwqallison Oct 13 '25
Hahaha I love that. The Midwest is an infinite chest of treasures that Iām just now being acquainted with
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u/rocksydoxy Oct 13 '25
I was hoping someone was gonna chime in with that! Though Iām team monkey brains.
Side noteāthe autocorrect of Osage orange in your comment made me laugh.
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u/Front_Lynx_6770 Oct 13 '25
I'm in NE Ohio, and that's what we call them too š I'm kind of surprised I had to scroll so far to find this answer!
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u/Ummm-wha Oct 13 '25
In Texas they are called horse apples. They come from the Bois Dāarc tree or Osage tree. They used to make fence posts and property markers out of the wood because of the strength of the wood and slow decay rate.
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u/mountainmamaharte Oct 13 '25
Native Texan here. Felt like I was looking way too long for "horse apple." Didn't realize this was a regional name.
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u/letsdothistwice Oct 12 '25
It is called a hedge ball from a hedge tree.
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u/letsdothistwice Oct 12 '25
If you set them in your basement or buildings they are said to keep spiders, crickets and other pests away in the fall.
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u/LopsidedChannel8661 Oct 13 '25
Lies. I did that at my old house where I had a small crawl space amd it did NOTHING to deter them.
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u/dorkeymiller Oct 12 '25
Yup for sure otherwise horse apple! Best wood for making homeade long bow!
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u/Qwqallison Oct 13 '25
If I ever need a longbow in a pinch I shall consult this tree thank you hahaha
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u/Content-Grade-3869 Oct 13 '25
That my friend is a hedge apple !
The tree that produces them is called an Osage Orange & no it is Not Fit for human Consumption
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u/Thy-SoulWeavers Oct 13 '25
in my youth, we would play war with osage oranges throwing them pretending they were bombs.
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u/Substantial-Elk-5153 Oct 13 '25
I need a few! I have kept a couple of Osage oranges in my house each year in the past, and I believe they really do control spiders. I didn't get any Osage oranges last and there are so many spiders now.
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u/wr5155 Oct 13 '25
And let's not forget that the Osage orange tree is the traditional wood for a bow.
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Oct 13 '25
I donāt know if there is any truth to this, but growing up my uncle would give us a brown paper grocery bag full of these to spread around the house and on windowsills. I guess it deters spiders and bugs
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u/Marine581986 Oct 13 '25
Osage orange or as it's called where I'm from in Pennsylvania, monkey ball
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u/Puzzleheaded-Act-388 Oct 13 '25
Horse apple, bois d'arc, osage orange. All are common names. I grew up calling them bois d'arc
Fun fact: it's believed that osage coevolved with extinct megafauna like the giant sloths. Very few animals eat them today
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u/AutoModerator Oct 13 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Key-Educator-3018 Oct 15 '25
Osage Orange. They have an interesting history. I used them as natural insect repellent in my basement for decades. The wood is interesting too, hard and dense
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u/Jumpy-Region-6076 Oct 13 '25
Osage orange,Bois DāArc apple,horse apple to quote a few common names for it.
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u/silicatesyndicate Oct 13 '25
I have a few of these trees on my property. Didn't know they were used to make good bows. I'm going to do that. Thanks reddit
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u/dataprof Oct 13 '25
Hedge ball, otherwise known as Osage orange fruit. Not edible. It is believed by some to repel insects if you place one on each side of a door, but personally I don't think it works based on my experience as a kid growing up in Missouri.
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u/AutoModerator Oct 13 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Prestigious-Web-6155 Oct 13 '25
Looks like a hedge ball. They grow on trees, we have them all over where I live. Midwest United States
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u/ItsNotFuckingCannon Oct 13 '25
IDK, but from the looks of the second picture, someone tried to smoke it!
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u/Mcgarnicle_ Oct 13 '25
Natureās softball. Used to love throwing those at trees or hitting them with baseball bats
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u/Dennis_Edson Oct 13 '25
They don't taste good šµāš«š
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u/AutoModerator Oct 13 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Farmallenthusiast Oct 13 '25
The University of Oregon has a test facility for determining the rot resistance of different woods, posts have been in the ground for decades, They have tons of publicly available data, but the TLDR is that everything rots except Osage Orange.
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u/High-Bamboo Oct 13 '25
Monkey Brains is the name we gave them when I was a kid. They were fun to throw and smash, but we knew they werenāt much good for anything else.
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u/Walkturian Oct 13 '25
Used to see these near Baltimore when visiting my cousin as a kid. We always though they looked like some weird brain and would throw them at each other...and they hurt lol
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u/Ok_Captain654 Oct 14 '25 edited Oct 14 '25
Thatās an Osage orange (Maclura pomifera)! Wild-looking, huh? Natureās version of a brainy tennis ball.
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u/AutoModerator Oct 14 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/SandoRic Oct 14 '25
Wow! You just brought back so many memories. We used to play with these when I was 9/10 years old. Never knew what they were.
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u/jefffisfreaky Oct 14 '25
A fruit whose evolved partner has long gone extinct. As others say itās an Osage orange, which was primarily eaten and distributed by mammoths and giant ground sloth, now extinct
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u/AutoModerator Oct 14 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/NatureGuy2 Oct 14 '25
Yep other people answered before me, it is Osage Orange. It was quite the bane for me to deal with in Illinois, as it is an invasive in that part of the country.
Its natural range is limited to the Red River drainage in Texas and Oklahoma, it was brought to the Midwest to serve and fence rows for farmers. It also had uses for making tool handles as the wood is very sturdy.
Nowadays, itās kind of a weed in those areas taking over ecosystems with poor management. It can also be a nightmare in using a chainsaw on it because of how the wood is so dense that the chain can break on them often.
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u/naked_nomad Oct 14 '25
We call them "Horse Apples" in the south and they grow on Boise d'arc (Bo-dark) trees.
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u/StrawberryCow_513 Oct 15 '25
I used to have a tree of those in my front yard and me and my siblings would throw them at each other
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Oct 15 '25
[deleted]
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u/AutoModerator Oct 15 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Grouchy-Face-4471 Oct 15 '25
Called those monkey brains in school, me and a few buddies used to gather those and huck them at other kids, had a war on the playground with them one timešš
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u/Rude_Meet2799 Oct 15 '25
Grew up calling them āBodark treesā- Later learned it was āBois dāArc. - wood for bows.
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u/Relative_Ad_603 Oct 16 '25
In Texas they are called horse apples. My grandfather raised hunting dogs and kept horse apples in his yard and the dog pen areas; he swore they kept the flea and ticks away naturally.
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u/Educational_Bed3125 Oct 16 '25
Monkey Brain, good for throwing at people or things when your a kid
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u/viking_hedonist Oct 16 '25
It's the fruit from a Bois d'arc tree. Pronounced here "bow dark". Also called Osage Orange. The wood is like spring steel and makes incredible bows. The trees themselves were often used as hedgerow to separate farms or pastures cuz they grow fast and dense. I always knew the fruit you posted as horse apple, but I've heard other names too. I wouldn't eat it, but I'm not gonna tell anyone how to live their life.Ā
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u/AutoModerator Oct 16 '25
Please do not eat or use any plant because of information received in this subreddit.
While we strive to provide accurate information here, the only way to be sure enough of a plant identification is to take the plant to a qualified professional. Many plants can be harmful or even fatal to eat, so please do not eat a plant based on an identification made (or any other information provided) in this subreddit.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/CommercialRub9040 Oct 16 '25
Also known as Monkey Brains by young Midwestern kids. I used to find these a lot in the woods near the house I grew up in
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u/abby_invasion Oct 16 '25
Hedge apple is what we call them in Illinois. My dad would have me go get buckets with him every year and put them around the line of the house foundation to ward off spiders
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u/bicuriousness88 Oct 16 '25
Does no one call them āmonkey brainsā??? Thatās what I called them growing up in NJ
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u/Moonshinin4Me Oct 16 '25
Where I came from we called them poison apples and as kids would throw them at each other. Thanks for the nostalgia!
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u/Meh-itwillbeok Oct 17 '25
we used to call them mock oranges growing up, they made great missiles for lobbing at peopleā¦
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Oct 17 '25
We call them hedge apples by us lol. I like to call them spider balls. Supposedly they keep the spiders away
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u/Acceptable_Diver5150 Oct 17 '25
Hedge balls they now make oils and hair and skin products out of them. It's in Bloomfield Iowa
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u/AYF_Amph Oct 17 '25
Osage Orange! The tree a beautiful wood that makes very strong walking sticks and some make bows out of them.
Since everyone is saying what they are colloquially known as, I called them Monkey Brains growing up lol
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u/RealSignificance8877 Oct 17 '25
We call them horse apples and the tree makes for great foundation for house. Takes forever to rot.
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u/Blahblechblue Oct 17 '25
āHedge-appleā tree. Super strong yellowish wood with long thorns on the branches. Fun fact, native Americans sought after these trees because of their natural curved branches which were great for making bows. The naturally strong wood would result in powerful bows.
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u/LookParticular5531 Oct 17 '25
There are a lot of Osage Orange trees along the C&O canal going west from Georgetown in Washington, DC!
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u/mickinnit Oct 18 '25
This looks like a hedge ball we buy those in the winter to help with spiders!
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u/GurConsistent7776 Oct 18 '25
We call them hedge balls. He uses them for keeping mice out of his outbuildings.
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u/hayhaysmedley Oct 19 '25
Looks like a Horse Apple. See them all the time in Texas !!Not edible to human!!
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u/dauwalter1907 Oct 19 '25
Former NE Ohioan here. Did anyone else hear them called āmonkey ballsā as a kid?
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u/Lyrical_Echo Oct 19 '25
That is a Maclura pomifera, AKA an Osage orange, bodark (from the French bois de arc), and hedge or horse apple, to list just a few of its common regional names. The Osage used the wood for making strong, yet flexible bows (hence the first two common names), early American farmers used it as living fencing because of its thick growth habits (hence the hedge moniker), and itās wood is often used for furniture. The fruits (sliced, dried, and skewed) have sometimes been used in floral arrangements or in dried potpourri.
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u/Rightbuthumble Oct 19 '25
That's an osage orange apple...but don't eat it. LOL....My grandfather used to use the wood to make recorders that people from all over came to buy.
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u/Reasonable_Chance637 Oct 19 '25
Osage orange. Once devoured by ground sloths. Horses occasionally eat them but no idea if the things (inedible to humans) are good for horses or not.
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u/SueBeee Oct 12 '25
Osage orange.