Details for: Ames 2948, Maclura pomifera (Raf.) C. K. Schneid., 'What Cheer'

Summary Data

Taxonomy:

Maclura pomifera (Raf.) C. K. Schneid.

Cultivar:

'What Cheer'

Origin:

Collected – Iowa, United States

Maintained:

North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station

Received by NPGS:

17 May 1984

Improvement Status:

Clone

Form Received:

Plant

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Life Habit:

Tree

Life Sex:

Male

Availability

This accession is not available. Contact site for status.

North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station

There are no images for this accession.

Core Passport Data

Taxonomy:

Maclura pomifera (Raf.) C. K. Schneid.

Cultivar:

'What Cheer'

Origin:

Collected – Iowa, United States

Maintained:

North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station

Received by NPGS:

17 May 1984

Improvement Status:

Clone

Form Received:

Plant

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Life Habit:

Tree

Life Sex:

Male

Source History

Collected

NEAR 1980.
Keokuk County, Iowa, United States
Locality: Along Highway 21, north of What Cheer, northwest corner of Keokuk County.
Coordinates: 41.4319, -92.3558 (Map it)
Georeference protocol: Lat/Lon determined via Map location
Habitat: Other
Environment description: Roadside hedgerow.
Number of plants sampled: 1
Comment: Please note coordinates indicate the general location and not the exact collection location. Selection represents What Cheer.
Collector(s):

Ferguson, Al

Donated

17 May 1984.
Iowa, United States

Donor(s):

Iowa Arboretum

11 April 2025.
Iowa, United States

Donor(s):

Schmitz, Andy, Brenton Arboretum

Accession Names and Identifiers

'What Cheer'

Type: Cultivar name

Ames 2948

Type: Site identifier

Group: AMES

NC-7 Research Numbers

USDA ARS NCRPIS

Narrative

The native range for Osage-orange is reported from eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, and the northwestern corner of Louisiana (Little, 1971). Historically and presently known for its extreme value as bow-wood and fence posts, Osage-orange represents one of the most widely planted tree species in the lower 48 US states as a living fence starting in the mid-1800's, in the late 1900's as a landscape tree for difficult sites, and most recently it's chemical properties. Detailed history of Osage-orange and it's economic uses are well documented (Smith and Perino, 1981 and J. T. Winberry 1979). Osage wood is highly-prized for its use as fence posts (both living and non-living) and durable wood for wood working. Osage is an extremely drought and heat tolerant tree and is recommended for use in USDA cold-hardiness zones 5b or warmer. Although the species is commonly known for it's stout thorns and large, globular fruits, the species is dioecious and the degree of thorns on individual genotypes can be extremely variable. In the 1970's Al Ferguson (Iowa Arboretum) and John Pair (Kansas State University) evaluated select clones, typically thornless, male selections that were acquired across portions of the Midwest. Based on notes by Ferguson, a total of "5 clones were collected along highway 21 north of What Cheer in Keokuk County Iowa with two clones named Keokuk and What Cheer selected for further evaluation" due to vigor and "relatively thornless" and "all male". This accession represents the selection What Cheer, a clonal, thornless male.

Maclura pomifera (Raf.) C. K. Schneid.

Genus:

Maclura

Section:

Maclura

Family:

Moraceae

Tribe:

Chlorophoreae

Nomen number:

23061

Place of publication:

Ill. Handb. Laubholzk. 1:806. 1906

Protologue link:

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/448994

Verified:

05/23/1995 by ARS Systematic Botanists.

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Basionym
Ioxylon pomiferum Raf.

Common names

Language	Name	seq	Citation
English	bow-wood	1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
English	hedge-apple	1	Radford, A. E. et al. 1964. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas.
English	osage-orange	1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
French	bois d'arc	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French	maclure épineux	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French	oranger des osages	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Osagedorn	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguese (Brazil)	laranja-osage	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Portuguese (Brazil)	pau-d'arco	2	Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names
Spanish	machura	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	madera de arco	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	naranjo de los osages	2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedish	citrusmullbär	2	Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)

Annotations