Maclura pomifera

Osage orange

Family: Moraceae · Type: tree · Not Native

Osage orange is a naturalized tree found in the Great Valley, southern California coastal areas, and western Transverse Ranges in streambanks and disturbed areas at elevations below 440 meters. Flowering from April to June, this tree produces yellow-green flowers in clusters with distinctive warty, spherical fruits 9 to 15 centimeters in diameter. Growing to 20 meters tall with sharp thorns up to 3 centimeters long, it develops a spreading, dense canopy. Its leaves are dark green, ovate to lance-oblong, 3 to 14 centimeters long, attached by 1 to 4 centimeter petioles and sparsely covered with soft hairs. The remarkable yellow-green, bumpy fruit makes this tree instantly recognizable in its adopted landscapes.

Habitat: Streambanks, disturbed areas

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 440 m

Bioregions: GV, SCo, WTR

California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, Sutter, Ventura, Butte, Kern, Nevada, Kings, Calaveras, Sacramento, Contra Costa, Yolo, San Diego, Solano, Stanislaus, Yuba

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.