The Collaborative International Dictionary
Maclura aurantiaca
Bois d'arc \Bois" d'arc"\ [F., bow wood. So called because used for bows by the Western Indians.] (Bot.) The Osage orange ( Maclura aurantiaca).
The bois d'arc seems to be the characteristic growth of
the black prairies.
--U. S. Census
(1880).
[1913 Webster] ||
Maclura aurantiaca
Osage orange \O"sage or"ange\ (Bot.) An ornamental tree of the genus Maclura ( Maclura aurantiaca), closely allied to the mulberry ( Morus); also, its fruit. The tree was first found in the country of the Osage Indians, and bears a hard and inedible fruit of an orangelike appearance. See Bois d'arc.