Wood ID Help

[Rob Cunningham]

Driving home from work yesterday I picked up a few pieces of wood from a tree that was cut down. This vortex has turned me into a real wood scavenger.:) I have no idea what kind of tree it was. Maybe someone else can ID it. The Anchorseal wasn't quite dry when I took the last picture. Thanks.

[Jeff Nicol]

Driving home from work yesterday I picked up a few pieces of wood from a tree that was cut down. This vortex has turned me into a real wood scavenger.:) I have no idea what kind of tree it was. Maybe someone else can ID it. The Anchorseal wasn't quite dry when I took the last picture. Thanks.
The leaves and bark kind of remind me of some sort of elm, but the wood color kind of leads to to a cherry of some sort. Some of the Alder trees could fit in there too, what did it smell like? The bark looks very corky and craggy so hard to decide for me. Any chance to get a picture of a similar tree still standing? I am stumped!

Jeff

[alex carey]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=125093&d=1249972278

Looks a lot like the stuff i got a week ago.

The trimmer I got it from said it was a type of pear.

[Terry Gerros]

Rob,

If it does happen to be pear as Alex suggested, leave it as a log for a year and you will have some beautifully spalted wood. I cut down two pear trees last year to build my shop, left them lying on the ground. Cut one up about 3 weeks ago and to my amazement I couldn't believe my eyes. I have hopefully attached two pictures of what I ended up with, and trust you will have the same.

Terry

125634

125635

125636

[Rob Cunningham]

After searching the internet, I'm leaning towards Elm. That looked the closest from pictures.
Jeff, it didn't really have a strong smell to it, just smelled like wood. This tree had been standing alone in a small grassy area next to a driveway. I didn't see any other trees like it nearby.

[Craig Powers]

Can you post more leaf picutres?
Usually elm will have a more pronounced
unevenness at the base of the leaf. Hard to
see that in this case.

[Jeff Nicol]

Rob, As I look at it some more it has the look of cherry also, was the wood as reddish as it looks with the anchorseal? I also was looking at some birch leaves and they look close to that shape and serated edges. Still not sure!

Jeff

[Rob Cunningham]

Here's a few more pics of the leaves. The base of the leaf does have some unevenness to it.
The color of the wood in the picture is pretty true, it didn't change much with the anchorseal.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

The only thing I can think of is Hawthorn, it has those kind of leaves at times and the wood color is close also, often looks like Apple wood, the problem with Hawthorn is the very variable look of those trees.
The leaf does look like Elm and Hackberry also, but the wood color/look is off for that.
This is just an educated guess though, the best I can think of right now.

[Quinn McCarthy]

It isn't from the elm family. They all have asymetrical leaf bases. Which means that each side of the leaf do not meet at the same place at the base of the leaf.

Quinn

[Jeff Nicol]

It isn't from the elm family. They all have asymetrical leaf bases. Which means that each side of the leaf do not meet at the same place at the base of the leaf.

Quinn
Quinn, What is your guess then? We are all dying to get this figured out. Leo has a good insight into the hawthorne, maybe Rob will have to send me a chunk and I can make a good educated opinion!

Jeff

[Leo Van Der Loo]

True Quinn, most (not all) Hackberry and Elm leaves are asymmetrical, however the leaf shown is pretty beat-up, but I tend to agrea with you that it isn't a Elm leaf, I think the Elm leaves also have usually more veins than the one shown, but it is especially the wood that doesn't conform to the Elm and Hackberry wood.
A diagonal cut through the wood would tell us for certain if it is or isn't Elm.

[Craig Powers]

Still can't tell from those leaves, but am also
pretty sure not elm or hackberry(elm family).
We don't have hawthorns that large here, so
no help on that one. Let us know if you find
a definitive answer.

[Rob Cunningham]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to take a piece to work this week and run it through the bandsaw. I'll take some pictures of the inside before I put any Anchorseal on it.

[Paul Gallian]

MOST: Taxonomist today place Celtis (hackberry) in the hemp family (Cannabaceae). Previously included either in the elm family (Ulmaceae) or a separate family, Celtidaceae, the APG II system places it in the Cannabaceae family. See wikipedia --

I am just an OLD taxonomist and the science of nomenclature has passed me up. Nope I would not guess the name of the tree in the photo.. He could send it to me and I would make good use of it and give you a correct Scientific name -- one that Carolus Linnaeus would be proud of.
Paul :o;)

[Jeff Nicol]

Well I did a lot of looking on line and out in the wild yesterday afternoon. What I found on line is a "Sweet Birch" or "Black Birch" have similar wood color and leaf style. The bark will get craggy like that with age or local, and the wood looks just like a lot of the birch trees I cut around here, even the little twig in the pictures looks a little birch like. I looked at a lot of elm leaves and found many that looked very similar to those you show, but most do have the asymmetry that was mentioned earlier. See if you can find one of the birch trees I mentiond and compare the leaves and trunks, or find a tree that matches and get some more pictures for us to evaluate. The bark on the trunk does not look at all like hackberry to me, I have one in the back yard and not even close so I would rule that out. Also there is a "Red Mulberry" that has potenial but some of the leaves will have multiple lobes with the serated edges, just a thought!

I really like a challenge!

Jeff

[Rob Cunningham]

I brought a log into work today and sliced it down the center on the bandsaw. It does resemble cherry somewhat. Here are some pictures right after cutting. Any more suggestions as to what it might be? Don't sweat over it too much, as long as I have some wood to turn I'll be happy :), but it would be nice to know what it is. Thanks again.

[Jeff Nicol]

Rob, Not cherry with all the white sapwood, the whole thing would be much redder. The little knots lend itself to an elm of some sort or the birch like I said. What did it smell like when you cut it? Elm has a very distinct smell, kind of sour and cherry will be sweeter and more pleasant. The birches have a nice smell too. If you cut across the grain at one corner and you see a zig-zag pattern that is a dead give away for an elm, but most of the elms are pretty much the same color all the way through with a smaller band of lighter sapwood. How big are the leaves in length and width? It could be a basswood if it is pretty soft and light in weight. Just throwing out everything I can think of!

Good luck,

Jeff

[Rob Cunningham]

The leaves are about 2 1/2" at the widest point and about 4" long, not including the stem. The wood is pretty hard and dense. It didn't smell like cherry when I cut it but it wasn't sour smelling either. I'll have to wait until I get a chance to turn some and see if that gives any clues.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Paul

That is interesting what they did with the elm family.

I will have to check that out.

Quinn

[Quinn McCarthy]

If it was hawthorne wouldn't the tree have thornes? Or is there a thornless cultivar out there?

Quinn

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Yes Quinn they usually have thorns, at least on the branches, but there are so many different ones that I couldn't say for sure, there are over a hundred native species and they hybridize freely, I was also grasping for an answer.

Now in the meantime I was looking at a native wild plum, it has leaves that look similar to the one shown, however I don't know if the tree gets the size shown,WHAT IS THE SIZE ANYWAY ???.

Just looked it up in my library, and according the info here, both the wild native Canada plum and American plum do grow to 10" diameter and 28 feet high, I better get a picture of the leaves from the ones growing here behind my place, though the plants are still small, but the leaves are probably closer to regular size.
So I will vote for Plum maybe now, the wood surely looks close enough for it.

[Tom Henry]

Try this place...

http://www.oplin.org/tree/

[Rob Cunningham]

Looking at Tom's link,I come up with American Elm.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

That's what we said Rob, but for the wood color also the bark but hard to tell.
Here are a few pictures I took from American Elm bark and log and turned pieces I made from American Elm, just compare that with the color of the wood shown in the OP pictures, they just don't compare.

[Dan Forman]

Looks like some kind of fruitwood to me, but can't go any further than that. IF it was elm, you would smell it, can't get around that.

Dan

[Russ Sears]

At first glance I'm thinking it's Hophornbeam. Did you say the wood was heavy for its size?
Is it possible to get a picture of a twig showing the vegetative bud at the end?