Vern Wilkins, Indiana University, Bugwood.org
This tree is not usually thought of as an ornamental, although it’s bark has an interesting interwoven texture with a bright red-orange hue. It’s form is almost always non-linear which makes one wonder how Native Americans made bows from it. It is dioecious and produces softball sized green-yellow fruits that have a strong citrus smell. Some say that if you cut the fruit in half and place it at the corners of the house, it might repel insects. The tree was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark distributed it across the West; thereafter, it was important in fencing the Western landscape because of its durable wood. The tree is naturalized throughout the United States. What is it?
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