The Horse Apple - Maclura pomifera

Product description

It originates from the USA.

• USE: in timber, for musical instruments, fences, war weapons and bows. Its fruit contains substances that repel animals, birds and insects.
• HEIGHT: up to 15 meters.
• TRUNK: upright, relatively short, thick and woody while the bark is gray with orange-brown areas and is strongly wrinkled. Young branches are initially green but gradually turn orange-yellow or light orange-brown in color, while in the axils of the leaves it bears hard and straight spines that are initially green but eventually turn gray-brown in color.
• LEAVES: opposite, ovate, imbricate, base varying from round to heart-shaped, apex pointed, upper surface dark green and shiny, while the lower surface is light green and hairy.
• FLOWER: Male and female flowers are on different plants because the tree is dioecious. Male flowers are smaller, green, globose and hairy and grow in axillary racemes, with 4 stamens and 4 sepals but no petals, while females grow in axillary subglobose heads.
• FRUIT: looks like an orange in size but is initially green, then yellow and consists of many small drupes that join together to form a syncarp (compound fruit) just like the fig. Fruits and branches secrete a milky and sticky substance if injured. The fruits are NOT eaten.
• BLOOMS: May-June.