Where Can Osage Orange Be Grown?
- Osage oranges averaging about 30 feet in height were first grown in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Settlers planted the trees in rows to keep cattle in and predators out of range land.
- Osage orange will grow as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Texas and Florida. It cannot withstand the bitter cold of Nebraska, Iowa, the north east portion of the Rockies or Illinois.
- Soils that hold moisture grow the biggest Osage orange trees, so bottom lands near lakes, rivers and streams provide excellent habitat. It is a very hardy tree that prefers moist soil but tolerates a wide variety of soils including drought and high-temperature conditions.
- Native Americans who traveled and traded brought the Osage orange as far east as the Piedmont area of Virginia. At Red Hill, where Patrick Henry spent the last years of his life, grows an Osage orange tree that is approximately 300 years old and nearly 60 feet tall.