In St Louis, Lewis was intrigued by a few young trees he saw for the first time, and he sent cuttings to Jefferson with a letter recording the information he collected about the tree and its fruit. Coming from the Osage country, the Osage orange became in mid-19th century the most commonly planted tree in the settlers' farms.
An image of the specimen in the Lewis and Clark herbarium. . . .
Maclura pomifera (PH-LC 140).
The copyright for this image is retained by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; this image is used with their permission.

VIGNETTE: Going East: Human Dispersal of a Tree
by Dominique Harre Rogers
St Louis, March 26th 1804
Dear Sir: I send you herewith inclosed, some slips of the Osages Plum, and Apple... I obtained the cuttings,... more>>