How bout them hedge apples

flickr hedge apple Sultry

Call it a hedge apple, hedge ball or osage orange.  They also go by bois d’arc, bodark (in Texas), and bow wood.  Some even call them horse apples, which has a different connotation where I came from.   Its scientific name is Maclura pomifera.

The topic of this inedible (except maybe by livestock) fruit came up at a recent family picnic.

Some of the attendees had an aversion to spiders.  It was mentioned that the hedge apple is a natural way to repel the hairy critters.  Sounds better than fumigation.

In the spirit of exploration and science, we purchased some of the weird-looking orbs. According to lore, you don’t cut them, just place them on a piece of foil or something and leave them in your window sills.  Spiders and other creepy-crawlers do not like the odor they emit. (I couldn’t smell a thing when I inhale near one.)