Tree identification

[materthegreater]

Once in a while I come across a tree I'm not familiar with. This one fell down in the snow we had earlier this week. Looks like it might be some sort of hickory but I'm not sure.



The heartwood is very dark


Branch structure:


Unfortunately I don't have access to any leaves...

 

[hvy 1ton]

Maple of some kind. possibly striped maple.

 

[materthegreater]

Definitely not striped maple, sugar maple or red maple, I'm familiar with those. It's possible it could be some other type like a young Norway maple. But I don't think maple usually has dark heartwood.

 

[CM1995]

Looks like a hickory of some sort to me. Although I don't see how a hickory (the ones down here anyway) could ever be toppled by snow no matter how much snow they had dumped on them. The wood fiber is extremely tough and the stumps are a PITA to dig out.

 

[materthegreater]

The bark looks similar to pignut hickory that I've seen before, but I never saw what the cut wood looked like before. I wish I had leaves or fruit to compare.

It broke because the wood had rotted and gotten weak. But also, sometimes snow is quite heavy.

 

[ianjoub]

Is the heartwood dark because it is dark or because it is wet?

We have oaks here in FL that will spew water on you when you cut them. I mean a lot of water, soak your pants running, not just dripping! The wood will look different after it dries for a few days.

 

[hvy 1ton]

Bark looks way too smooth to be any hickory I'm aware of. Norway Maple bark

and heartwood

 

[materthegreater]

Is the heartwood dark because it is dark or because it is wet?

We have oaks here in FL that will spew water on you when you cut them. I mean a lot of water, soak your pants running, not just dripping! The wood will look different after it dries for a few days.

Well it's frozen so no water at all came out... It's definitely dark but it may lighten up some after letting it dry for a little.

 

[materthegreater]

Bark looks way too smooth to be any hickory I'm aware of. Norway Maple bark

and heartwood

That must be a young Norway maple, there are some nearby but they are mature and the bark looks like Ash. Young trees can have significantly different bark than mature trees.

pignut hickory

winter, tree, id, identification, bud, twig, pignut hickory, red hickory, carya glabra

www.portraitoftheearth.com

I'll try to examine the buds and branch structure more closely and see how it compares.

 

[Old Doug]

Is the heartwood dark because it is dark or because it is wet?

We have oaks here in FL that will spew water on you when you cut them. I mean a lot of water, soak your pants running, not just dripping! The wood will look different after it dries for a few days.

We have some kind of oak here that has a lot of sap. Its not very good fire wood we call it water oak.

 

[Willie B]

I call it bitternut. Lumber is indistinguishable from Pig Nut. It is a hickory. Excellent firewood, or beautiful cabinet wood or flooring. Hard as stone.
High quality boards are rare as an injury to a single branch will cause a strip of rot all the way down the tree. I find many are split, I presume freezing when moisture is high.
I once had a large number of trees, but many got the cankers, (little balls of growth ranging from golf ball size to tennis ball size). I cut many trees for firewood.

 

[ianjoub]

We have some kind of oak here that has a lot of sap. Its not very good fire wood we call it water oak.

Our water oaks makes excellent firewood, after drying. They burn hot and slow.

 

[materthegreater]

I call it bitternut. Lumber is indistinguishable from Pig Nut. It is a hickory. Excellent firewood, or beautiful cabinet wood or flooring. Hard as stone.
High quality boards are rare as an injury to a single branch will cause a strip of rot all the way down the tree. I find many are split, I presume freezing when moisture is high.
I once had a large number of trees, but many got the cankers, (little balls of growth ranging from golf ball size to tennis ball size). I cut many trees for firewood.

Good to know, thanks!

 

[Old Doug]

Our water oaks makes excellent firewood, after drying. They burn hot and slow.

I have burnt a lot of it dried out but it didnt seem real good.

 

[Hallback]

Looks like pulp to me

 

[materthegreater]

Looks like pulp to me

Very true!

 

[colson04]

If you have a smart phone, download an app called PictureThis. I have used it for a few years to help identify trees and brush I didn't recognize or know. You can take pictures of the bark, the leaves, the branches with buds, whatever, and it will scan its database to find a match. It has worked amazingly well everytime.

 

[materthegreater]

I have a similar app called Plant Net but it's not very accurate sometimes. Maybe I'll try that one.

 

[Shop Dweller]

Thats white walnut if soft. If its hard it's a hickory of some type. That is if it were here in NC mountains.

 

[materthegreater]

Thanks for bringing this back up, I had forgotten about it. Almost missed my opportunity to get a picture of a leaf before they all fell off.







The leaf looks like hop-hornbeam but the bark doesn't. Maybe it's a different kind of hornbeam. Doesn't really look like a hickory leaf to me. My app keeps telling me it's a maple based on the bark...