Jerry Marcantel
08-14-2010, 5:53 PM
Yesterday I did a little road trip to a canyon in the Whetstone Mountains near Benson, Arizona where this winter I discovered this tree that had about 40 burls on it. Maybe they aren't really burls, because they are growths on the limbs. Most were about 6" diameter, and 4" to 12" long, with pits all over the outside. Needless to say, I collected all that I could reach. Since it was winter, and there was no evidence if what the tree species is, I decided to drive out yesterday to check out the leaves..
It turns out the tree is a variation of walnut.... Real small nuts, and small leaves as apposed to the leaves of walnut trees in Missouri.
I investigated this canyon a little further and discovered a dead walnut tree and had floated down the wash from somewhere years ago. It had a bunch of burls (6)on it that I could see, and after clearing all the debris from around it, I proceeded to remove them. The largest is about a foot in diameter and 18" long.... It also has all those pits, and is almost solid..The rest of the burls are about 7" diameter up to 18" long... Here are some pictures of the burls, (gloat). 158326158327
After that, we decided to do a scenic drive up and over the Santa Rita Mountains, and along the way, we had equestrians on the road, plus a donkey or 2.158338158339 and of course the expected dead snake in the summer months.158343
We drove up to the divide of the mountain, and there's this canyon that has a lot of oak trees in it. There are burls on at least every 3rd tree.... Here is a pic of a dead tree that a limb broke just as took the picture. She said she thought the camera was noisy, not knowing the limb had broken158345 Actually, the broken limb wasn't photographed. It's out of view here.
Anyway, I did a few things the other day. The HF at the upper left is Mesquite, probably not the Velvet that is native to here. The grain is just tooo pronounced to be the local natural stuff. I'll get a couple more pictures of the bottom, other side view and a profile.
The lidded box at the bottom is Black Walnut from Missouri. Just after sanding this box yesterday, thinking it was done perfectly, someone started a thread about BW and scratches.. As you can see, they are still there, and I thought I was done...
I was saying that the mesquite is probably not native is looking at the rings, it looks like the tree when it was alive got plenty of water... After a storm here, you can see a few mesquite trees, and other tupes blown over in peoples yards, but as many miles as I've covered in the natural desert, I have never seen a naturally uprooted Mesquite, Catclaw, or Palo Verde tree. It just doesn't happen in the wild. Only those that have been transplanted blow over, even if they've been in the yards 30-40+years........
It turns out the tree is a variation of walnut.... Real small nuts, and small leaves as apposed to the leaves of walnut trees in Missouri.
I investigated this canyon a little further and discovered a dead walnut tree and had floated down the wash from somewhere years ago. It had a bunch of burls (6)on it that I could see, and after clearing all the debris from around it, I proceeded to remove them. The largest is about a foot in diameter and 18" long.... It also has all those pits, and is almost solid..The rest of the burls are about 7" diameter up to 18" long... Here are some pictures of the burls, (gloat). 158326158327
After that, we decided to do a scenic drive up and over the Santa Rita Mountains, and along the way, we had equestrians on the road, plus a donkey or 2.158338158339 and of course the expected dead snake in the summer months.158343
We drove up to the divide of the mountain, and there's this canyon that has a lot of oak trees in it. There are burls on at least every 3rd tree.... Here is a pic of a dead tree that a limb broke just as took the picture. She said she thought the camera was noisy, not knowing the limb had broken158345 Actually, the broken limb wasn't photographed. It's out of view here.
Anyway, I did a few things the other day. The HF at the upper left is Mesquite, probably not the Velvet that is native to here. The grain is just tooo pronounced to be the local natural stuff. I'll get a couple more pictures of the bottom, other side view and a profile.
The lidded box at the bottom is Black Walnut from Missouri. Just after sanding this box yesterday, thinking it was done perfectly, someone started a thread about BW and scratches.. As you can see, they are still there, and I thought I was done...
I was saying that the mesquite is probably not native is looking at the rings, it looks like the tree when it was alive got plenty of water... After a storm here, you can see a few mesquite trees, and other tupes blown over in peoples yards, but as many miles as I've covered in the natural desert, I have never seen a naturally uprooted Mesquite, Catclaw, or Palo Verde tree. It just doesn't happen in the wild. Only those that have been transplanted blow over, even if they've been in the yards 30-40+years........