Osage orange trees

[Charles Clear]

Hello everyone! Although I understand the Osage orange tree isn't hard to propagate, does anyone have a source for to buy some trees that are a few years old? I'm rather impatient. I know some people will say they are a useless tree, but I have seen bucks eating them at other locations, so I'm going to try them at my place.

 

[H20fwler]

https://www.coldstreamfarm.net/osage-orange-maclura-pomifera.html

 

[Charles Clear]

Awesome! Thank you for the reply, I wonder if they will be back in stock for the spring?

 

[bigbendmarine]

Did a bit of google research and think you may be on to something, Charles Clear... a tree that produces fruit only really big bucks actually eat, and one the big bucks like enough they'll actually fight over... sounds like a dream tree to me!

dfwurbanwildlife.com/2014/02/19/uncategorized/white-tailed-deer-osage-orange-eaters/

 

[Catscratch]

Did a bit of google research and think you may be on to something, Charles Clear... a tree that produces fruit only really big bucks actually eat, and one the big bucks like enough they'll actually fight over... sounds like a dream tree to me!

dfwurbanwildlife.com/2014/02/19/uncategorized/white-tailed-deer-osage-orange-eaters/

I'm a huge fan of OO and have been for a loooong time. I sometimes see deer eat the apples, but they absolutely love the leaves! If you look at the pics in the site bigbendmarine posted notice the browse line. This is where they really hold value. Also do a google search and try to find the protein content of the leaves. I don't remember what it is but it's fairly high.

 

[Charles Clear]

I think its worth a try! They are not native in my part of Pennsylvania They are a couple trees on a local farm though. We hunted Indiana state this year and saw cows as well as deer eating them.

 

[chickenlittle]

https://mdc6.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/?page=4

It would be cheap to buy from Missouri MDC. Normally great quality and the ship out of state.

 

[Charles Clear]

Wow, thank you for the link!!

 

[j-bird]

Bring a bucket and shovel to my place and dig, dig, dig!!!! For the first time EVER! I saw 3 deer standing under one in a donkey pasture eating the apples off of one about a week ago. I have tons of them along my southern creek and I just don't see them getting used for much of anything. But who knows.....maybe I'm sitting on a gold mine and just don;t know it!!!!

 

[yoderjac]

Did a bit of google research and think you may be on to something, Charles Clear... a tree that produces fruit only really big bucks actually eat, and one the big bucks like enough they'll actually fight over... sounds like a dream tree to me!

dfwurbanwildlife.com/2014/02/19/uncategorized/white-tailed-deer-osage-orange-eaters/

Interesting link, but I wonder if it is wrapping a story around his pictures. When I see deer fighting in my clover fields I don't think they are fighting over the clover. Deer will eat a lot of different things under the right conditions. My guess is to why mature bucks were eating them more than younger deer was that younger deer didn't have the physical size and strength to eat them that mature deer had. One question I have would not be whether deer eat them, but how they rank on the preference list. Do mature bucks actually prefer them over other foods? What other foods are available at this time? Is this a time period where they represent the best available food? Do they have something in particular that bucks are craving during that period?

Trees are a long term investment. I think I'd want to have a better understanding of how deer relate to them before moving forward with Osage Orange. I don't have any on the farm but we have them on farms in the area. I don't notice them to be particularly attractive to deer, but that is just anecdotal observation.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Catscratch]

QUALITY OF NATIVE LANT FORAGE SPECIES IMPORTANT TO WHITE ...

If you search the title above you will find a document about deer and native plants (in central OK). It shows OO as 1 of only 2 plants that are utilized by deer in all 4 seasons. Many of the forbs utilized by deer are seasonal and usage drops way off from November through Feb where OO shines. It also shows OO as very high in both CP (crude protein) and TDN (total digestible nutrients) the entire yr. Throw in the chart that shows browse makes up 41% of a deer's diet and the OO looks pretty appealing.

Yoder brings up preference. As I said before I seldom see deer eat the apples, but as a browse species I find them highly valuable. I think a lot of us get caught up in plotting and forget what nature already has in place. It's real easy to stump cut a few OO, leave the tops for winter browse, and watch it sprout next spring into a feast of leaves that are within reach of a deer herd. The real value of the pics in the other link are the browse lines.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

My question is, Are the branches void of leaves because of browsing or lac of sunlight? To me the lower branches look dead. Not saying they havent browsed some of the branches but...

 

[yoderjac]

QUALITY OF NATIVE LANT FORAGE SPECIES IMPORTANT TO WHITE ...

If you search the title above you will find a document about deer and native plants (in central OK). It shows OO as 1 of only 2 plants that are utilized by deer in all 4 seasons. Many of the forbs utilized by deer are seasonal and usage drops way off from November through Feb where OO shines. It also shows OO as very high in both CP (crude protein) and TDN (total digestible nutrients) the entire yr. Throw in the chart that shows browse makes up 41% of a deer's diet and the OO looks pretty appealing.

Yoder brings up preference. As I said before I seldom see deer eat the apples, but as a browse species I find them highly valuable. I think a lot of us get caught up in plotting and forget what nature already has in place. It's real easy to stump cut a few OO, leave the tops for winter browse, and watch it sprout next spring into a feast of leaves that are within reach of a deer herd. The real value of the pics in the other link are the browse lines.

Great link! I think we may be getting into regional differences again. I don't consider planting for browse. With rotational timber management, controlled burns, and such may native seed bank produces amble browse. Big Bend's link seemed to be referring primarily to the fruit. Mast (hard and soft) is something I'm willing to plant trees for. Persimmons, apples, pears, jujube, chestnut, Allegheny chinquapins, DCOs, are what I've started with. These all provide food volume, nutrition, and attraction when mature. You don't find many of these lying on the ground around here for long. I can't say that for OO. I'm wondering how attractive the fruit really is to deer. This too could be regional.

One more thought. I think OO is related to mulberry and Che. I wonder how deer relate to Che. I think it can be grafted to mulberry. I'm not sure if it drops like OO or not. Just thinking out loud.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[swat1018]

I've never seen a deer eat one. Squirrel's, yes. They do love the leaves in the Fall

 

[Catscratch]

OO, Che, and Mulberry are all related. I have 3 Che grafted on OO rootstock planted from 2yrs ago. I don't think OO and Mulberry will graft to each other but I'm not sure. I've read that people have tried (because they are so closely related) but they didn't take.

My experience is that deer love to browse all three species's leaves equally well. There seems to be something about fruit tree leaves that deer love.

The link I posted above is a great link for deer habitat guys in general. Even if you aren't interested in hedge trees there is a lot of great information on there...

 

[Bill]

maybe I'm sitting on a gold mine and just don;t know it!!!!

Cut one and see what they do to the stump sprouts. But leave a note in a bottle under it apologizing to the poor guy that has to cut it down in 25 years. :)

 

[g squared 23]

If a big buck is going to come through and eat ONE, you can't exactly call it a big buck magnet or something that they prefer. The link proves that deer do indeed eat them, and that's great information, but I dont think a land manager should go out and plant a whole bunch of 'em.

The benefit might be as a source of food over the winter and before green up that is typically ample. So they can certainly be a good supplement and even an emergency food source, but I'm not sure how helpful planting a boatload of them would be. This info might prevent me from completely clearing them out.

I guess I could observe the trees that I have and see how many of the "fruits" are left in spring. Couldn't imagine myself ever "releasing" a hedge apple tree though...

 

[bigbendmarine]

Definitely should have chosen my words more carefully, or just shared the link with the pictures absent any intro comment... wasn't exactly being sarcastic, but was being a bit humorous (or trying to be) with my comment. On the other hand, I did find the pictures interesting in clearly identifying / confirming that deer ate the actual fruit (at least at a given location).

Above shared, I'm reminded of a number of threads where I've seen lengthy debates over whether foods were browsed or not with some swearing so and others swearing not and I don't doubt at all that geographical region / browse option availability / etc, can greatly impact whether deer will choose a food source (or not) at certain times.

Heck, acorns started falling around my place and the local hog population ABSOLUTELY gave up eating corn put out for them until the acorns started getting hard to find. We humans are much the same, or at least I am... I like asparagus and spinach ok, but have my dear ol' Mom cook me some lasagna and offer me ice cream for dessert and I might just skip over the veggies.

 

[Charles Clear]

Oh I don't think they are a deer magnet, but I think they will benefit the animals on my property. Especially since they are pretty much non existent in my area. Awesome discussion though guys!

 

[j-bird]

Cut one and see what they do to the stump sprouts. But leave a note in a bottle under it apologizing to the poor guy that has to cut it down in 25 years. :)

Well - not only that, but hedge is hell on a chainsaw chain! I have some BIG hedge on my place they are like a giant shrub more so than a tree because it branches so low. If I cut a few - I will do a side-by-side to see if I can notice any use.