Wood id help

[Prashun Patel]

Does anyone know what this is?

I found it on the side of the road in Central NJ. It's from someone's yard, and was definitely planted by either the homeowner or the developer. The trunk was already cut up and by the curb; no leaves. About 14" diameter/

Elm? I'm guessing no because it smelled vaguely sweet and green, not 'funky' as elm can do.

Maple? It does smell like maple, but I'm not used to seeing it so uniformly colored with heavy grain lines in cross section.

It split fairly well with a hatchet - as maple can. Could it be an October Glory Red Maple?

[Dave Mount]

It does not look like maple. The end grain is a little hard to see, but it seems like I see some "W" patterning in the end grain that is similar to that in elms, but most elms wouldn't split cleanly like that one appears to have. Also, it doesn't look ring porous. Elm end grain:
432702

Color and texture seem about right for butternut, see end grain here:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/fReoUt60kz7XicmM9mFGBdlL_h2jPqyCOyFkrYgGkREOfwMfXd 7LcX1zJI4Y_RwAt0Z8uBWWP3Ug_NviQwDpHmXTxDhJl4gYKJdl EWMk-UGoBV8tp3Sn4jAZ8jsoUzQdY3ALFDUDDv4MGdZQNoE-HUplgyPB8Y7Dte3VqxvvwNKOYys9sfdK

However, butternut also tends to have grain lines that are scalloped around the circumference, which I don't see, though it was a young tree:

https://cdn.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/butternut_5F00_21.jpg

Butternut is a wonderful wood, though it can be a little stringy when turning wet wood. Dry it behaves much better.

Butternut would be my best guess, but not terribly confident.

Best,

Dave

[Nike Nihiser]

kinda looks like hickory to me

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks!

I don't think it's Butternut; it's too heavy and I've not seen butternut this wide and straight around here. I've also not seen butternut that white around the outside. I could be wrong.

Could it be ash? The color does look like ash.

Here's a close up of the end grain .

[Jamie Buxton]

Bruce Hoadley's other very useful book is Identifying Wood.

[Steven Cooper2]

Looks like a piece of the locust tree I had growing up. Some sort of locust would be my vote.

[Nike Nihiser]

the bark doesn't look like locust to me, plus the sapwood in all the locust I've seen had a yellowish/greenish tinge in it.

[John K Jordan]

Prashun,

If you can cut a little piece of the heartwood that has the end grain of at least several rings, say 3/8" thick, and a minimum of 1/2" wide and 1" or so long and stick it in an envelope I'd be glad to look at the end grain and see if it matches with one of the species in Hoadley's Identifying Wood book. I also keep a number of prepared samples to compare. I shave the end grain with a razor blade and look at it with a low-power stereo microscope and check with for fluorescence with a strong UV light.

Is that chunk about 17" in diameter? If so, it looks like one fast growing tree! I see the type of maple you mentioned is on this list:
https://arbordayblog.org/landscapedesign/the-fastest-fast-growing-trees/

Also, is it relatively heavy or light in weight?

Eric Meyer of the Wood Database has a great page on wood identification. https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/
At the bottom of the page is one option:
"If you have a mysterious piece of wood that you’d like identified, I would recommend contacting the Center for Wood Anatomy Research, (part of the USDA’s Forest Products Laboratory), for a free, reliable, and professional identification. This is a free service available to all US citizens: they will identify up to three wood samples per year. See their Wood ID Factsheet."
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/research/centers/woodanatomy/wood_idfactsheet.php

With the current health situation I don't know if their lab is open just now but I'm planning on sending a sample in a few days. A large tree from a neighbor's yard has me stumped. Years ago someone on another forum sent me a sample and also sent a sample to the FPL - I was so relieved that they came back with the same answer I had! But it was an easy one.

Keep in mind that you may never find out the exact type, especially in a tree someone planted! There are thousands of cultivars! But they'll be able to tell you if it's maple, butternut, etc.

JKJ



Does anyone know what this is?

I found it on the side of the road in Central NJ. It's from someone's yard, and was definitely planted by either the homeowner or the developer. The trunk was already cut up and by the curb; no leaves. About 14" diameter/

Elm? I'm guessing no because it smelled vaguely sweet and green, not 'funky' as elm can do.

Maple? It does smell like maple, but I'm not used to seeing it so uniformly colored with heavy grain lines in cross section.

It split fairly well with a hatchet - as maple can. Could it be an October Glory Red Maple?