By Monty Siekerman
Thanks to Lelia Dyer we now know that that the story we posted about a paw paw tree is actually an Osage orange, also known hedge apple, horse apple, monkey ball, or, if you know your French, bois d'arc.
Our story listed many edible uses for paw paw. But Osage orange is seldom eaten due to extremely hard texture and taste. The fruit is not poisonous to humans or livestock, as shown by several studies. The seeds of the fruit are edible and it is sometimes torn apart by squirrels to get at the seeds, but few other animals use of it as food source.
There is an unusual tree on the southeast corner of State Route 235 and County Road 10 (Hardin-Hancock County Line Road). It's a Osage orange tree.
Pictured inspecting the knobby fruit of the tree are cousins Annie, age 4, daughter of Matt and Rachel Ludwig, and Lincoln, age 3, son of Dave and Becca Maris.
MORE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF STORY.
The trees grow in shaded areas, like moisture, and are hard to find at a nursery since they do not transplant well. Best bet: grow them from seed. Mature trees can reach 30 feet in height.
