Hedge Apples...
 

You know, those big bright green spheres you see hanging from trees, hedge apples. I was riding along and was a tree full of them, with some which had fallen off. Thought to myself-one of those could cause some pain if it fell & hit me, or if I hit it with a wheel. But then, I don't think I've ever actually SEEN one fall. See them below the trees, but have never seen one fall. Has anyone actually seen one fall, or do the "hedge apple tree knomes" come and take them off the tree when noone is looking?

I believe the Osage Oranges are so sticky, they slowly roll along the branches and down the trunk of the trees at night when the air is cooler.

Didn't know what you were talking about at first. We call them "horse apples". From the lovely Bois d'Arc tree, which get very big. Have several behind my office and they are a mess. They can be tempted to fall by parking under the tree.

Don

A block after leaving work yesterday, two fell out of a tree in front of my car! Not sure what damage could have been done had I been driving a bit faster.

Obviously insurgents of the Squirrel Liberation Front if you ask me!

It was probably this one. I think I see remnants of a hedge-apple on his sword.

I grew up with a few hedge apple trees on our property and had to mow the grass under them. They do fall without the help of gnomes or elves or even militant squirrels.

I'm guessing it's a good idea not to run over them with a bike.

Yup, these and the infamous "Rogue Hickory Nuts".

Let's not forget about "Road Apples", while we're at it.

I thought this was going to be about the stock market......:rolleyes:

I was hit in the helmet by a rouge hickory nut last week.

And my bike was hit by an acorn today.

Hmmm. I think that in Amish country what they call "horse apples" are something entierly different.

FWIW, NYS apples are fantastic this year.

On my ride yesterday, I had two of the best Macs I've ever had. Planted the remains in hedgerows too.

That should bring color to your cheeks.

Yep, one frosty morning about a decade ago I was doing a predawn creek side trail on one of the eastern US battlefield national parks. As I approached a bend I heard a huge ker-PLUNGE. Hmmmm, maybe a big critter jumped in. Then another and another. I'm now thinking somebody is messing with me so I stop to watch in the dark. Turns out the frost had loosened the stems and they were falling off en mass as I passed.

Hedgeapples are the fruit of Osage Orange which were brought east from the Mississippi drainage to form living cattle hedges 'cause they grow fast and have spines. The roots are bright orange. Even goats won't eat 'em. They're a scourge clogging floodplains in the eastern US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage-orange

We call them horse apples. Also- if you want a woodworking project, the wood from that tree
makes great archery bows.

By the way, there's another bike-related component to these things. You don't ever want to run over one hidden in the leaves. When fresh they're really hard and up to five-six inches through. Remember if you get thrown BY one you'll get thrown ON the spines of the parent tree!

'Course, the worst tree to run into is the Honey Locust. The books call their spines "tortuous". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:H...ust_thorns.jpg] I managed to accomplish this delicate maneuver as a kid on a J.C.Higgins balloon-tire-bomber.

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

I don't know if anyone else made the connection but I did. :roflmao2:

I worry more about riding through the road apples in Central Park.

My daughter has a Mac, we've just got a P.C. :(
After what I had to pay for her Mac, if she plants it in a hedgerow, I'll be tempted
to plant her.

They accumulate at the bottom of hilly roads in Ohio.

No animals except horses eat these. There's a new theory that they were originally eaten by giant ground sloths and mammoths, to spread the seeds. See the wikipedia article above. Avocados were probably spread by giant mammals, too.