Horse Apple, With Dog

It’s the time of the year where horse apples (also known as Osage oranges) are thick on the ground at the local nature preserve. I call them “brain fruit” because, well, look at it, it kind of looks like a green, sickly brain just lying there on the trail. As I understand it, these fruits are not poisonous to humans or other animals, but none of them particularly like it, either. There is some speculation that this fruit evolved to attract a seed-spreader who no longer exists (like a giant sloth or some such), but this hypothesis is controversial and not necessarily widely supported. No matter what, it’s a weird damn fruit. Also in the picture, blurry and in the background, is Roscoe, my mother-in-law’s pup, who I was walking at the preserve. He is also not poisonous to humans or other animals. Please do not eat him either. He is a good boy. — JS