The Osage Orange Tree Bears Fruit

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I have been absent for many days due to a bad head cold (and other health related issues). Today is the second clear day after a span of much needed rainy weather. Slight haziness along the horizon but otherwise a perfectly blue sky. A beautiful day. Here are a few things I have noticed this past week when I managed to make it outside. The Osage Orange Tree near the end of the street has begun to drop its fruit. The strange pale orbs get crushed under car tires and form discolored pancakes plastered to the street, not even fit for the squirrels to eat. Smooshed!

According to various online sources, “Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) is often cited as a classic example of a botanical anachronism—a species shaped by ecological relationships that no longer exist. Native to a small region of the south-central United States, the tree produces large, heavy, grapefruit-sized fruits with tough, bitter flesh. Today, these fruits mostly rot where they fall, rarely dispersed by modern animals.
Many ecologists believe this makes sense only when viewed through a megafaunal lens. During the Pleistocene epoch, North America was home to large herbivores such as mastodons, mammoths, giant ground sloths, and gomphotheres. These animals had the size, strength, and digestive systems capable of consuming the fruit whole and dispersing its large seeds over long distances through their dung.
When these megafauna went extinct around 10,000–13,000 years ago, the Osage orange lost its primary dispersal partners. The tree survived, but its natural range contracted dramatically, and its fruits became ecological orphans—overbuilt for the world that remained. Human cultivation later spread the species widely, especially as hedge rows and windbreaks, masking its otherwise puzzling reproductive strategy.
The Osage orange thus stands as a living reminder that present-day landscapes still bear the imprint of vanished worlds, where trees and giants once evolved in tandem.^“4

Clusters of white flowers have blossomed along the edges of yards and in patches of sun where the grass meets the trees. With the help of Google Images, I have identified it as White Snakeroot. A member of the Aster family, this native perennial plant is known for its toxicity to humans and livestock.¹

An odd looking spotted insect I’d never seen before keeps making an appearance. After coming across one a few times, I grew curious enough to look it up. Turns out to be an invasive Spotted Lanternfly. A planthopper native to China and Vietnam, known for damaging agricultural crops.²

It also seems to be that time of year when the stink bugs, or shield bugs as I prefer to call them, begin their annual home invasion. Thankfully they don’t seem to accumulate, but each day I see one or two in a window or along the ceiling. I don’t find them overly offensive (unlike centipedes!), however, I’d prefer they didn’t come into my house.

Specifically referring to the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, which I’ve learned is also an Asian invasive species.³ According to the Environmental Protection Agency these insects, “can be a serious agricultural pest” that feeds on, “numerous fruit, vegetable, and field crops including apples, apricots, Asian pears, cherries, corn (field and sweet), grapes, lima beans, nectarines and peaches, peppers, tomatoes and soybeans.” I had no idea they were so problematic.

Additionally, the internet (Google) is telling me they smell strongly when “crushed or disturbed”, however, I have never personally experienced this. The cats play with them all the time. They don’t seem to mind being handled, or picked up and moved. I even squished one accidentally in a drawer and there was no smell whatsoever. Maybe I’m just lucky? You tell me, do stink bugs actually stink?

References:
1. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageratina_altissima
Prairie Moon Nursery – https://www.prairiemoon.com/ageratina-altissima-white-snakeroot
Illinois Wildflowers – https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/wh_snakeroot.htm

2. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_lanternfly
Connecticut Public – https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2024-07-25/spotted-lanternfly-connecticut-grapes-crops
USDA – https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/slf

3. Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
Ohio State University – https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ent-90#:~:text=The%20brown%20marmorated%20stink%20bug%20was%20first%20identified%20in%20the,buildings%20in%20many%20other%20areas.
USDA – https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/invertebrates/brown-marmorated-stink-bug
EPA – https://www.epa.gov/safepestcontrol/brown-marmorated-stink-bug

4. Science Direct – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790317304852
Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/plant/Osage-orange
National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/hedge-apple-osage-orange-ghost-of-evolution
Missouri Department of Conservation – https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/osage-orange
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_anachronism