There is no evidence that this tree was present in Ky. before being widely planted in the 19th Century for thorny hedges (Rafinesque 1836a, 3:43), especially after 1880 (Shacklette 1937). It is sometimes speculated that native people could have planted this species locally for its extremely dense, strong, durable wood, but at the time of European conquest of North America, Maclura is documented only from Ark, Okla., Tex., perhaps La. (FNA 3, W) and perhaps Miss. (Brown 2003; J.L. Seltzer, Cobb Institute of. Archaeology, Starkville). Yet there is paleobotanical evidence that Maclura occurred as far north as Ontario during a previous interglacial period (Terasmae 1960). It is likely that extinct equine species or other megafauna formerly dispersed Maclura around North America (Gardner et al. 2017). The unusual large fruits of this species are still relished by several mammals, especially horses (Boone et al. 2015; also pers. obs. by JC, LC of ANDE and L. Lagrew of WOOD). However, the fruits can cause cattle to choke (pers. obs, by R. Seymour of HART and others). Also, ruminants may generally kill seeds in their guts, and domesticated horses generally kill seeds by chewing (Boone et al. 2015). It is likely that deer or smaller mammals occasionally disperse the seeds, but perhaps only over rather short distances. Squirrels often extract the seeds from old fruits (Murphy et al. 2018; also pers. obs.). The tree is dioecious but apomixis has been reported (Barlow 2008). Males tend to have a more upright habit, without branches weighted down by the fruit crops. Plants may sometimes spread with suckers from its long running roots, and can be easily raised from cuttings or layers; however, wild clumps of stems may often be genetically distinct (Schnabel et al. 1991). The combination of thorns and low palatability (or possible toxicity) is unusual among woody species of eastern North America. Tetrahydroxy-stilbenes appear to play a major role in inhibiting fungi and insects (Wang & Hart 2007). Latex includes unusual prenylated isoflavones (a chemical class otherwise concentrated in Fabaceae), and in the fruit peptidases (e.g. Tsao et al. 2003, Corron et al. 2017). Whether humans can or should consume fruits safely remains uncertain; the gluey texture of raw material is a significant problem. However, Rafinesque (1817) claimed: "The fruit is very good to eat, the milk which it contains is sweet, and a real amylaceous emulsion, composed of a fine white diluted ferula or starch, which separates in a sediment if the milk if squeezed out and left to stand." Barlow (2008) described the taste as "surprisingly good, but more like air freshner than food... delightfully clean, with perhaps a hint of cucumber." Perhaps fermentation would improve it. Ferro (2014) has suggested entomophagy from rearing the larvae of Solva pallipes.