Kimberly Lynne Thomas, 8, of Washington, W. Va., for her question:

WHAT IS AN OSAGE ORANGE?

There's a small tree called the Osage orange, planted across the United States that is often trimmed into hedge form. It was named after the Osage Indians who lived in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, where the tree was originally found. The tree has a yellowish green inedible fruit that looks very much like an orange.

The Osage orange is sometimes called the boxwood or bodark. The tree has crooked branches on which grow long, pointed leaves of shiny dark green. It has a milky, bitter sap and sharp, thorny twigs. Pioneers originally planted the trees around their farms as "living fences'' before barbed wire was invented.

The Indians used the hard, strong wood of the Osage orange for bows and war clubs. Settlers used it for making wagon wheels and fence posts.