Wood ID?

[Robert Marshall]

Recently-felled tree in my Atlanta neighborhood. No leafy branches left, so I don't have that to go on. My guess is oak, which is very common here. What do you think?

A small log piece, cut in two, showing reddish wood in the center:

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The stump:

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Most of the tree is still there, cut into log sections that are mostly 2-3 feet long. It is in some woods behind an abandoned church, at the west end of South Ponce de Leon Ave. No idea who owns the property.

[Chris Gunsolley]

Can you post a straight-on picture of the bark?

[Reed Gray]

My first guess would be cherry. Oak tends to smell a bit like vinegar, cherry like cherries.

robo hippy

[brian zawatsky]

Yeah looks like cherry to me too. The heart, sap, and bark are all indicative of cherry.

[Bob Bouis]

It almost looks like cherry, definitely not an oak. You should be able to rule out cherry by the bark on the immature branches, though. It may or may not have a distinctive smell.

ETA: I typed this response, waited a minute to post it, and two other people beat me to the punch. But I came up with it independently. So I think that's a bit stronger vote for cherry.

[Robert Marshall]

Can you post a straight-on picture of the bark?

Here's a picture I took that should show the bark a little better.

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I'm probably more familiar with flowering cherries, which have a smooth bark, almost like birch. Which my wood find doesn't resemble. But the next photo is from an online tree database, and is black cherry. And it looks similar to the wood I'm asking about, above. So, maybe cherry?

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[Bob Bouis]

Immature bark on wild cherry often looks like flowering cherries. Look at the branches if they're still there.

But that's almost certainly cherry.

[Prashun Patel]

Cherry.

Good find. Seal it well and quick. Cherry around me tends to check quickly.