Osage orange. It was also called bois d’arc.
The trees acquired the name bois d'arc, or "bow-wood",[3] from early Frenchsettlers who observed the wood being used for war clubs and bow-making by Native Americans.[10] Meriwether Lewis was told that the people of the Osage Nation, "So much … esteem the wood of this tree for the purpose of making their bows, that they travel many hundreds of miles in quest of it."[12] The trees are also known as "bodark" or "bodarc" trees, most likely originating from a corruption of "bois d'arc."[3] The Comanches also used this wood for their bows.[13] It was popular with them because it was strong, flexible and durable,[3] and was common along river bottoms of the Comanchería. Some historians believe that the high value this wood had to Native Americans throughout North America for the making of bows, along with its small natural range, contributed to the great wealth of the Spiroan Mississippian culturethat controlled all the land in which these trees grew.
