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At the Arboretum, the role of Puff the Magic Dragon is played by Osage orange trees
By adamg on Mon, 11/18/2024 - 10:30am
Science IRL explains the ginormous Osage oranges (which are not actual oranges) that litter the ground at the Arboretum, waiting, like Puff for little Jackie Paper, for woolly mammoths that will never come again:
@science_irl One of my favorite plant stories You can see Osage Oranges in all their glory at the Arnold Arboretum! Fun fact: avocados are another example of the megafaunal dispersal syndrome #planttok #plantsoftiktok #botany #plants #trees ♬ original sound - Science IRL
H/t PonderStibbons.
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Comments
horse apples
One of the other names for that species is "horse apple," because horses also have the right kind of dentition to eat them. Horses may be one of the species the trees co-evolved with, before becoming locally extinct in North America about 10,000 years ago.
Thank you!
I've seen "horse apples" referred to in old books before and always assumed it meant windfall apples (i.e., regular apples that fell on the ground and were consigned to horse feed).
Not to be confused with
Not to be confused with "road apples", which come out of a horse, or is a '70s band from Boston.
When I was little we lived right near the Arboretum, and after we moved I noticed that none of the trees had the little yellow plaques on them.
Memory unlocked: one of my favorite elements of a parade
When I was a kid at local parades one of the most delightful parts to us was watching the dedication of the various marching bands who would not break stride and step right in those road apples.
Oh, is that what those things are?
They look rather like green brains, and I used to wonder if that was the origin of the name "Braintree".
Outer towners always want to
Outer towners always want to know Is Braintree a real place and How did it get the name. Now I have the answer. (Braintree is not a real place, and it's named for the tree that grows brainfruit.)
Braintree
How far away from Braintree does a town have to be to qualify as an outer town?
Brantry
I once saw an early colonial era map that spelled Braintree as "Brantry" instead. Seems like there's not a lot of certainty about the etymology of the name.
Martian brains
was the non-scientific name that I had for the fruit. One of my dogs was obsessed with them and had to bring one home from every walk.
Thanks for the info
and your nostalgia-inducing intro to a cool explanation.