Tree ID - help

[sw18x]

I have about 30 acres of woods in Orleans County, NY (between Buffalo and Rochester NY). 8 - 10 acres are beautiful mature forest: beech, maple, oak, a lot of dying cherry, plus many examples of this tree I'm trying to identify. The ash borer is moving steadily closer to my area and I'm afraid it's black ash. Then again, most of the ash I scrounged for firewood before moving to this property was white ash with a much rougher bark. The bark on this tree is relatively smooth - any chance it could be something else? Based on my tree book, pignut hickory looked like a possibility.

The pics are from 3 different trees, the one with me holding the leaf is a young tree obviously, because with the larger trees (some of which approach 18" or more in diameter), there are no branches for 30 feet or higher. It's generally a straight trunk, with a canopy too high to photograph.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sw18x]

2 more pics

 

[sw18x]

Something else I found:

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/sweet_pignut.html
(Sweet Pignut Hickory - Carya ovalis)

If you scroll down to the photo right below the heading that says "Photographic Location", that's EXACTLY what the bark on all of my trees look like, even the older ones. But none of the trees have the course / shaggy bark mentioned in the description and demonstrated by the other pics...

 

[cuinrearview]

Hickory

 

[lone wolf]

Hickory

Beat me to it. I concur, a type of Hickory.

 

[buzz sawyer]

I'd go with pignut hickory. You should see nut hulls under the tree.

 

[sw18x]

No nut hulls...the squirrels and chipmunks seem to keep the ground pretty clean even around the beech trees too. I will be keeping a close eye out in the fall.

I was excited to find some hornbeam and hophornbeam stands on the property too, though I doubt I'll ever be able to bring myself to cut any of the hophornbeam down for firewood.

 

[Jere39]

Confidence in Hickory ID - 99.9%
There are so many Hickory types, and your examples appear to still be relatively young trees. Most hickory in this area (of PA) are not throwing many nuts at that age. As they mature, they really begin to load up hickory nuts. And, in this area, the squirrels and chipmunks only eat the heart nut, leaving some serious ground cover of hickory nut hulls. A good way to clean and polish the underside of a mower deck is to mow around a nice big hickory tree after the Fall nut fall.

 

[les-or-more]

Looks like a bitternut hickory.

 

[svk]

I was going to say hickory as well.

You are in a great area with many different species of trees. I do a lot of cutting for a children's camp over near Albany and am amazed at the number of different species they have on 40 acres. The only hornbeam I have ever cut was one on their property that was taken out by a larger oak that came down during a windstorm.

 

[sledge&wedge]

I agree 100% with @Jere39 . That polishing bit might be a little off, though