Tree Identification

[rickm]

The female produces the fruit the male doesnt and i have been told that a male doesnt have thorns, but i have never ran across one that doesnt have thorns so i must have all females lol, but i have seen some that hasnt had fruit.

 

[leemozoid]

Hi All,

There’s a tree I’ve only seen since moving to Oklahoma and I’m curious what it might be. It’s probably 30’-40’ tall in the picture. “Fruit” is about the size of a softball which is milky inside. I’m sure this sucker is as poisonous as all get-out. Any clue what I’m looking at?View attachment 394422View attachment 394423View attachment 394424

In Missouri we just called them hedge trees. Cattle and squirrels love them. In the 1800s farmers would plant them in rows as fence lines. The wood is hard as steel when dry and will bend nails! It is also the hottest burning wood I've ever felt. The thorns were also used by Native Americans for sewing.

 

[kingfish]

These trees were what made up the famous (or infamous if you prefer) hedgerows of France that caused the allied forces all kinds of difficulty moving through Northern France after D-Day. Even tanks would be stopped in their tracks not being able to go over or plow through. Just trying to walk through them cold be a real workout. This was the reason why what the planners thought what should only take a few hours to traverse took days. A hedgerow around every field.

 

[RETOKSQUID]

Never thought about tasting one; been using them for targets since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

And throwing at your cousins .

 

[tynyphil]

These trees were what made up the famous (or infamous if you prefer) hedgerows of France that caused the allied forces all kinds of difficulty moving through Northern France after D-Day. Even tanks would be stopped in their tracks not being able to go over or plow through. Just trying to walk through them cold be a real workout. This was the reason why what the planners thought what should only take a few hours to traverse took days. A hedgerow around every field.

Yep.....I have several on my property and it you have to trim up the branches as they bend down......the thorns will cut you up

 

[Snattlerake]

I always tell the uninitiated that those are one of Oklahoma's best cash crops! Those are tennis ball trees!

(Thanks for the info. Now I know what they really are!)

Woody

Yeah, and these are why Oklahoma is so windy.

And these are Oklahoma prisons.

Every little town has one.

The funnel is where they make the Soylent Red from Oklahoma.

 

[Michael618]

Not poisonous. Actually rumored to be a cure for cancer. See Bois D'Arc, or hedge apples in link below:
https://wkdq.com/how-the-lowly-hedg...ts-out-of-your-home-and-some-say-cure-cancer/

 

[TerryMiller]

Cane?

Oops...

...when I looked at the picture, the knife intrigued me enough to not get a good look at the other item. It looked like it was the handle of a cane.

 

[geezer77]

All of the above plus:

1: They sucker like crazy all over the place when cut back to ground level, even after 12" deep stump grinding
2. They put out a ton of large bright orange above-ground roots that will absolutely bring a big zero turn mower to an instant dead stop like you hit a half-buried anvil
3. They are loaded with extremely long and sharp thorns that hurt a lot and are death on small equipment tires
4. They will cover the ground with a huge load of heavy "fruit" that you get to pick up every year
5. They are the second hardest native trees to limb & trim in Oklahoma (hackberry is far and away number one).

Tree crews hate working with them, and I don't blame them.