Maclura

I've been looking for a symbol of the changes that humans have made to the prairie that used to extend across the midsection of this continent. The osage orange tree, also known as hedge apple, has felt this touch of humans. It originally grew only in a very small area in Texas and Oklahoma. It was brought north to contain cattle--the branches interlock and are thorny. Then barbwire was invented, and the osage orange was left to fend for itself in a new environment. It hangs on, a reminder that we can change our ecosystem, but we don't always change it for the good.

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