Editing Maclura pomifera (section)

== Distribution ==
[[File:Maclura pomifera range map.png|thumb|right|Natural range of ''M. pomifera'' in pre-Columbian era America.]]
Osage orange's pre-Columbian range was largely restricted to a small area in what is now the United States, namely the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] drainage of [[Oklahoma]], [[Texas]], and [[Arkansas]], as well as the [[Texas blackland prairies|Blackland Prairies]] and [[Oak savanna|post oak savannas]].<ref name=wynia/> A disjunct population also occurred in the [[Chisos Mountains]] of Texas.<ref name=USDA>{{Silvics |first=J D |last=Burton |volume=2 |genus=Maclura |species=pomifera |access-date=October 5, 2012}}</ref> It has since become widely naturalized in the United States and Ontario, Canada.<ref name=wynia/> Osage orange has been planted in all the 48 contiguous states of the United States and in southeastern Canada.<ref name=USDA/>

The largest known Osage orange tree is located at the [[Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial|Patrick Henry National Memorial]], in [[Brookneal, Virginia]], and is believed to be almost 350 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Tree Information |url=https://bigtree.cnre.vt.edu/detail.cfm?AutofieldforPrimaryKey=199 |access-date=November 18, 2022 |website=Virginia Big Trees}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The mystery of Patrick Henry's osage-orange: which enigma is greater; the age of the national champion or how it got to Virginia? - Free Online Library |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+mystery+of+Patrick+Henry%27s+osage-orange:+which+enigma+is+greater;...-a0106141724 |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Osage-orange - VA |url=https://www.americanforests.org/tree/osage-orange-va/ |access-date=2022-11-19 |website=American Forests |language=en-US}}</ref> Another historic tree is located on the grounds of [[Fort Harrod]], a Kentucky pioneer settlement in [[Harrodsburg, Kentucky]].<ref>Allen Bush. [http://gardenrant.com/2012/10/the-undaunted-and-undented-osage-orange-2.html The Undaunted and Undented Osage Orange].</ref>

=== Ecological aspects of historical distribution ===
[[File:Maclura pomifera in Kansas winter.jpg|thumb|Evidence of a seed predator (February in Kansas).]][[File:Maclura pomifera fruit sprouting seeds.jpg|thumb|Mound of a single fallen fruit sprouting seeds (April in Illinois).]]
Because of the limited original range and lack of obvious effective means of propagation, the Osage orange has been the subject of controversial claims by some authors to be an [[evolutionary anachronism]], whereby one or more now extinct [[Pleistocene megafauna]], such as [[Ground sloth|ground sloths]], [[mammoth|mammoths]], [[mastodon|mastodons]] or [[gomphothere|gomphotheres]], fed on the fruit and aided in seed dispersal.<ref name=":0">Connie Barlow. [http://www.thegreatstory.org/anachronistic_fruits/index.html Anachronistic Fruits and the Ghosts Who Haunt Them] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106121158/http://www.thegreatstory.org/anachronistic_fruits/index.html |date=2007-01-06 }}. ''[[Arnoldia]]'', vol. 61, no. 2 (2001)</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/trees-that-miss-the-mammoths/|title=The Trees That Miss The Mammoths|first= Whit |last=Bronaugh|year=2010|journal= American Forests|volume=115|issue=Winter|pages=38–43}}</ref> An [[equine]] species that became extinct at the same time also has been suggested as the plant's original dispersal agent because modern horses and other livestock will sometimes eat the fruit.<ref name=Ghosts_Evo/> This hypothesis is controversial. For example, a 2015 study indicated that Osage orange seeds are not effectively spread by extant horse or elephant species,<ref name="Anachronistic_fruits">{{cite journal|last1=Boone|first1=Madison J.|last2=Davis|first2=Charli N.|last3=Klasek|first3=Laura|last4=del Sol |first4=Jillian F. |last5=Roehm|first5=Katherine|last6=Moran|first6=Matthew D.|title=A Test of Potential Pleistocene Mammal Seed Dispersal in Anachronistic Fruits using Extant Ecological and Physiological Analogs|journal=Southeastern Naturalist|date=11 March 2015 |volume=14 |issue=1|pages=22–32|doi=10.1656/058.014.0109|s2cid=86809830}}</ref> while a 2018 study concludes that squirrels are ineffective, short-distance seed dispersers.<ref name="murphy" /> The claim has been criticised as a "[[just-so story]]" that lacks any empirical evidence.<ref name=":1" />

The fruit is not poisonous to humans or livestock, but is not preferred by them,<ref name=IPM_IowaU_2>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1997/10-10-1997/hedgeapple.html |title=Facts and Myths Associated with "Hedge Apples" |date=October 10, 1997 |last=Jauron |first=Richard |work=Horticulture and Home Pest News |publisher=Iowa State University |access-date=October 22, 2014}}</ref> because it is mostly inedible due to a large size (about the diameter of a [[Softball (ball)|softball]]) and hard, dry texture.<ref name=Ghosts_Evo/> The edible seeds of the fruit are used by [[squirrel]]s as food.<ref>Murphy, Serena, Virginia Mitchell, Jessa Thurman, Charli N. Davis, Mattew D. Moran, Jessica Bonumwezi, Sophie Katz, Jennifer L. Penner, and Matthew D. Moran. "Seed Dispersal in Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera) by Squirrels (Sciurus spp.)." The American Midland Naturalist 180, no. 2 (2018): 312-317. Harvard</ref> Large animals such as [[livestock]], which typically would consume fruits and disperse seeds, mainly ignore the fruit.<ref name=Ghosts_Evo/>