Texas wood ID help please!

[Steve Campbell]

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Good morning all. I sure could use a little help with this one. A friend brought this back from a back yard in the Austin, Texas area. It's about ten inches in diameter and about ten inches in length. I can barely ID wood from my area. This has me "STUMPED"
Any help would be great.

TIA Steve

[Deane Allinson]

Not sure about the wood or spelling but it looks like Crepe Myrtle. They get pretty big in south Tx.
Deane

[Alan Trout]

It could also be Texas Persimmon as its bark also exfoliates like Crepe Myrtle.

Alan

[Edward Bartimmo]

Alan, I think you mean Texas Madrone, which is smooth and peeling like crepe myrtle. Texas Madrone has some blackish/purple tones to the bark, and the wood is a subdues pink (canned salmon color). Since this was in someone's yard it was most likely planted in it for its flowers. In this case I think it is Crepe Myrtle.


It could also be Texas Persimmon as its bark also exfoliates like Crepe Myrtle.

Alan

[Tom Winship]

Deane, crepe myrtle was the first thing I thought of, however, I've never seen the inside of it.

[Pete Copeland]

Steve,

It does look like crepe myrtle but it would be one of biggest ones I've ever seen. Is it soft?

-Pete

[Steve Campbell]

Thanks for the tips. Pete I don't know yet how hard it is. I haven't cut into it yet. Any more ideas?

[Dane Fuller]

The coloring looks kinda like lacebark elm but it's too smooth, I think. Crepe Myrtle would probably be a safer bet.

[Alan Trout]

Yes I was referring to Texas Persimmon which does grow in the Austin area. Here is a picture that I found. They grow a lot like the Crepe Myrtle,They can look like tree or a bush. Here is a photo I found.

I very well could be wrong but just a guess.

Thanks,

Alan

[Deane Allinson]

Yes I was referring to Texas Persimmon which does grow in the Austin area. Here is a picture that I found.
Thanks,

Alan

I think Alan could be correct. I was raised in Arkansas so the persimmon up there the bark was real dark with deep fissures. I love that wood, it takes a polish like glass.
Is the Texas species as hard? Black heartwood?
Deane

[Mark Hix]

It looks like Crepe Myrtle. I have some that large in my back yard.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Your wood looks like crepe myrtle. The "other" persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, with the deeply fissured bark and bearing persimmon fruits, is in the ebony family, hence the small black stripe in the middle and very high polish factor.

[Thomas Canfield]

The Crepe Myrtle usually has a light wood, even when dried, and not the reddish color here unless that results from the soil. The Crepe Myrtle up in Tyler was white wood even in the red iron sand/clay, fine grain, and hard, and also subject to extreme cracking if cut green.

[Bill Boehme]

I would vote for crepe myrtle also. It tends to grow in mottes which is what image 1 seems to indicate.

[Reed Gray]

Well, the bark and outside have the color of the Pacific Madrone, but Madrone has a smooth trunk, not ridged or wavy like that. I was thinking it looked like some Juniper I have seen, but don't really know. Never had any crepe myrtle.

robo hippy

[Steve Campbell]

Thanks for all the help. I couldn't take it any longer I had to cut it in half. Here is what I found. Any more ideas? Thanks again.

Steve225970225971

[Edward Bartimmo]

Alan,

Good Call...I stand corrected. I was thinking of wild/common persimmon tree that is found throughout Texas (see attached photos). The bark is rough, dark (almost black) and heavily fissured, and the fruit is unedible until it is fully ripe (almost fermented).

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In the case of the Texas Persimmon and Texas Madrone both are similar with peeling black bark outer bark with smooth greyish under bark. Neither of these tree grows very large...small brush/tree with varigated limbs. I actually took a roadtrip to hunt some specimens and everythign I found was no bigger than 6" diameter or smaller.

Due to our climate it is quite common to find crepe myrtles growing in Texas that are +12" diameter. I have seen a couple of crepe myrtles that were approx 24" is diameter with the trunk rippled like a stalagmite.

Edward





Yes I was referring to Texas Persimmon which does grow in the Austin area. Here is a picture that I found. They grow a lot like the Crepe Myrtle,They can look like tree or a bush. Here is a photo I found.

I very well could be wrong but just a guess.

Thanks,

Alan

[Dustin Keys]

I'm no wood expert, but I've been around those all my life. It's crepe myrtle. I have some that size and a few larger in my backyard.

D

[Steve Campbell]

OK guys here is a picture of the rough turned bowl.
Thanks again all. Steve


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[Nate Davey]

Sure turned out to be a beautiful piece of wood. Nice job on the bowl as well.

[Nathan Hawkes]

[QUOTE=Edward Bartimmo;1886692]Alan,

Good Call...I stand corrected. I was thinking of wild/common persimmon tree that is found throughout Texas (see attached photos). The bark is rough, dark (almost black) and heavily fissured, and the fruit is unedible until it is fully ripe (almost fermented).




In Virginia, the trick about eating the fruit is to wait until after the first frost--before then and they will always make your lips pucker up!


Nice looking wood in the bowl.