osage orange Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun small shrubby deciduous yellowwood tree of south central United States having spines, glossy dark green leaves and an inedible fruit that resembles an orange; its hard orange-colored wood used for bows by Native Americans; frequently planted as boundary hedge
    mock orange; bow wood; Maclura pomifera.

WordNet

O"sage or"ange
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) An ornamental tree of the genus Maclura (M. aurantiaca), closely allied to the mulberry (Morus); also, its fruit. The tree was first found in the country of the Osage Indians, and bears a hard and inedible fruit of an orangelike appearance. See Bois d'arc.

Webster 1913