# What is this fruit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404 "2005-12-28T03:59:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/1 "2005-12-28T03:59:04Z")
There is a really scraggly looking tree on the trail where I run, and it drops fruits that look entirely too huge for the tree they came from. [Here are the fruits](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v186/minor7flat5/Photo_122205_002.jpg) They are about the size of baseballs (or maybe softballs). This tree is in central Jersey. What are they? Edible? Yukky? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/2 "2005-12-28T04:05:49Z")
Looks like a horse chestnut, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/3 "2005-12-28T04:16:43Z")
Nope, that’s an [Osage orange](http://www.gpnc.org/osage.htm), also called a hedgeapple. The fruit is fibrous and not edible. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/4 "2005-12-28T04:56:39Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Nope, that’s an [Osage orange](http://www.gpnc.org/osage.htm), also called a hedgeapple. The fruit is fibrous and not edible. That looks like it. The fruit didn’t look very appetizing anyway! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/5 "2005-12-28T05:51:03Z")
Someone else asked this question recently. They’re indigenous to Texas, and here in Texas, the fruit is universally called a “horse apple.” The tree itself if the Bois d’Arc, pronounced “bo-dark.” The name comes from the French trappers noting that the local indians made their bows from it. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/6 "2005-12-28T07:07:53Z")
Just out of curiosity, is it deemed not edible simply because it’s tough? The link didn’t say if it was harmful to ingest. Does it taste bad or make you ill? ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/7 "2005-12-28T07:12:38Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Someone else asked this question recently. They’re indigenous to Texas, and here in Texas, the fruit is universally called a “horse apple.” The tree itself if the Bois d’Arc, pronounced “bo-dark.” The name comes from the French trappers noting that the local indians made their bows from it. “Bwa-dark” :3 According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage_orange), they are not poisonous but will make you vomit, and are also bitter. I think I’ll give them a pass. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-fruit/337404/8 "2005-12-28T15:18:11Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Someone else asked this question recently. They’re indigenous to Texas, and here in Texas, the fruit is universally called a “horse apple.” The tree itself if the Bois d’Arc, pronounced “bo-dark.” The name comes from the French trappers noting that the local indians made their bows from it. I can attest to the fact that the wood is tougher and stringier than hammered hell. It is/was grown as hedge rows to separate fields in the midwest. Fence posts made from the trunks last nearly forever. Hard to saw, impossible to split. Some folks slice up the fruit and dry it to use as cockroach repellents.