Do you recognise this?

Over the last couple of weeks Rowan and I have spent hours wandering the streets of Mostar trying to get our bearings. We've visited the four malls, sat in cafes and restaurants, run the gauntlet of pedestrian crossings and traversed the Neretva more times than we can remember. In one long walk through the tall apartment blocks that inhabit some much of the west side we chanced upon a strange, unfamiliar site.

The picture does not show a rubber ball in some crazed state of decay. Rather it is a fruit. We know that much from watching two pigeons pulling one apart. We poked one or two ourselves. The pavement was littered with them, with more still clinging to the overhanging tree. Perhaps we're being particularly ignorant but this doesn't look like any fruit we've seen before. And therein lies today's lesson: fruit is still fruit, whether we recognise it or not. I look forward to discovering exactly what I photographed and to seeing what the 'fruit' of our labour looks like here.

Comments

David said…
Wow! Now that is curious. Your fruit is an Osage orange, also known as a hedgeapple or horseapple. It's curious because it is native to the central United States, where I live. I wonder how it got to Mostar?

The wood is still sometimes used here for fence posts, because it is strong and slow to decay. The fruit contains a very sticky white sap, and is not really good for anything.

Here's the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage-orange

Another reference I found mentions that some Osage orange trees were planted in central and eastern Europe as windbreaks and as food for silkworms:
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/usda/amwood/248osage.pdf
Sam M said…
that looks very weird!

Have you tried eating it or is it not edible or something?
WeDoAdventure said…
thanks for digging out that info. that's definitely the tree. how weird that it's normally an american tree.
Jay said…
Interesting. My first thought it was a soft plush toy.

Btw thanks for the additional Wiki info, David.

Regards,

JJ

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