r/Whatisthis • u/woahwoes • Aug 24 '25
Solved Found on a tree in North America, seems like some sort of fruit, was wondering what it is.
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u/sdkfz250xl Aug 24 '25
A relic of the past… grew this size to work a deal with megafauna like giant sloths, mammoths, and mastodons. One or more of these like the taste of that fruit and would scatter seeds as it roamed.
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u/kileme77 Aug 24 '25
They have latex inside, and can cause a reaction to those sensitive. The juice can also be a decent mosquito repellent.
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u/Last-Radish-9684 Aug 24 '25 edited Aug 24 '25
It is an Osage orange, also known as a horse apple.
When i was about 5, I saw one on the street (southern Oklakoma) and asked my granddad what it was. He told me it was the only apple that he was certain grew on an orange tree.
He then explained that it could be a riddle:
What kind of apples grow on orange trees?
Horse apples grow on Osage Orange trees.
Edited for clarity. Twice. 😮💨
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u/mjdau Aug 25 '25
Osage orange can be grown to make a living hedge, and the timber is super dense. It can be used for bow making and boat building.
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u/oldschool-rule Aug 24 '25
Hedge Apple! They are poisonous. Used to keep some in the tack room to prevent mice!
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u/woahwoes Aug 24 '25
They’re poisonous? It isn’t edible?
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u/AlarmingSlothHerder Aug 24 '25
They aren't poisonous to horses. I used to feed them to horses all the time. But it has thick, sticky sap in it. I would have never considered even so much as tasting it growing up.
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u/Silverwolf7791 Aug 24 '25
My mom places them around the outside of the house to keep spiders from coming into the house in the winter.
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u/woahwoes Aug 24 '25
Does this work?
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u/AlarmingSlothHerder Aug 24 '25
I've always heard it does. Also supposedly you can roll them under your house to get rid of pests like skunks.
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u/Effective_Warthog463 Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25
It's only palatable to a small number of creatures, like horses, squirrels, and deer. Not for human consumption, due to the latex content and nasty flavor. Technically, it is not poisonous, but it's still not food.
When I was a kid, we'd use these like baseballs. If they exploded, then the squirrels would happily eat up the pieces.
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u/Mann_Peach Aug 25 '25
They aren't poisonous. They just aren't very good. You can eat them. Look up the video by Weird Explorer.
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Aug 25 '25
I have a bowl made of Osage wood that a woodworker gave me. It’s a beautiful orangeish wood color.
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u/OriginalPersimmon797 Aug 24 '25
Fruit of an Osage orange, or bois d'arc.