Hog Hedge Ball

 Spiked, dried, seed-like ball. Come from the Hog Hedge tree, immigrated from Ireland. It is said that pigs, (hogs), ate the leaves and had spiked feces, which is what the tree’s fruit is named after. 

The Nicholaus’s Beetle, from England, burrows into these hedge balls and lays their eggs. In early spring, hundreds of tiny beetle larva eat the inside of the hedge ball as food, until they grow enough to burrow out. Almost 98 percent of Hog Hedge Balls have larva in them by late February. 

Find us, (The Hedge Ball Literary Society Of Northern Canada Lexington University), at HBSNCLU, the plant department of University Of Iowa. 

Article written by Kisumu Washington