(n) small shrubby deciduous yellowwood tree of south central United States having spines, glossy dark green leaves and an inedible fruit that resembles an orange; its hard orange-colored wood used for bows by Native Americans; frequently planted as boundary hedge, Syn. mock orange, bow wood, Maclura pomifera
(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. [ 1913 Webster ]