Maclura--the baseball connection
Doug Jensen
[snip]
>What would you say was the original means of dispersal for seeds/fruit of
the
>Osage Orange (Maclura pomifera), also known as Bois d'Arc and Horse Apple?
>We are dealing with a large (ca. 1 kilo) fruit to about 10 cm in diameter.
>They are green (not a bird-attractive color) and full of a sticky, milky
sap.
[snip] a
>friend swears she has seen a horse eat one, the vast majority of these
things
>seem to drop right under the tree and decay. [snip]
When I took woody plants at U of Michigan, I was told they were dispersed
by wild horses. I recall that they were stuck to horses hooves and dispersed
after they were trampled, not through ingestion. I also recall the instructor
mentioning a baseball player (you know--the Wild Horse of the Osage). Taking
the baseball allusion a step further, they do make great projectiles for batting
practice. A few good homeruns, and those babys are gonna be dispersed pretty
well.
I didn't know whether to believe this story or not, until I heard the about
how Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple) is pollinated by turtles.....
Have a good Thanksgiving, and don't eat any mayapple pie!
Doug Jensen
Received: from net.bio.net by smtpgtwy.berea.edu (SMTPLINK V2.11)
; Tue, 26 Nov 96 22:14:05 PST
Return-Path: <BIOSCI-...@net.bio.net>
Received: (from daemon@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id QAA17929; Tue, 26 Nov 1996 16:57:16 -0800
Received: (from news@localhost) by net.bio.net (8.6.12/8.6.6) id QAA17920; Tue, 26 Nov 1996 16:57:10 -0800
To: plan...@net.bio.net
From: ficti...@alias.incognito.myob (ima pseudonym)
Subject: Re: Agent of distribution--Maclura
Date: 27 Nov 1996 00:29:23 GMT
Message-ID: <57g213$b...@newsgate.duke.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bio184.botany.duke.edu
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=US-ASCII
X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.99.7
mon...@bio.tamu.edu
So far, the guesses are:
large herbivores--maybe mastodons--need a willing elephant to taste test
decay--ie, meant to just drop and rot
stuck to wild horses' feet--might work; they're certainly gluey enough
flotation --haven't been able to test this one as they're gone for the
year--anybody got a fresh one and a bucket of water?
current distribution patterns seem to involve juvenile Homo sapiens. Word is
they make great (if temporary) softballs.
Keep the ideas coming!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Monique
Jim Manhart
> So far, the guesses are:
>
> large herbivores--maybe mastodons--need a willing elephant to taste test
> decay--ie, meant to just drop and rot
> stuck to wild horses' feet--might work; they're certainly gluey enough
> flotation --haven't been able to test this one as they're gone for the
> year--anybody got a fresh one and a bucket of water?
>
>
> current distribution patterns seem to involve juvenile Homo sapiens. Word is
> they make great (if temporary) softballs.
>
>
I was a witness to the distribution of a pickup truck load of Maclura
fruits onto the main intersection of Herington, KS, a more or less annual
event. The vectors were several adolescent males. The fruits were then
collected (again) by the street maintenance crew and their fate after
that is unknown.