Tree ID in North Florida

[JAXJEREMY]

I live in northeast Florida and we have a creek that runs behind our house. along the edge of the creek we have some water oaks, hickory and a few other varieties. However, we have this one particular tree that seems to have spread over the years. We've been in the house for almost 17 years.

A few years back we had some tree work done after a hurricane came through. The tree guy said he thought they were box elder, but I'm not sure. I've cut down four of them so far just because they were choking out more desirable stuff..any thoughts on what these are?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I want to say hackberry.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

It doesn't produce any fruit and the bark doesn't look like hackberry to me..

 

[ray benson]

Maybe Beech.
@Del_

 

[Del_]

Maybe Beech.
@Del_

Might be blue beech or ironwood. Sometimes called muscle wood.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/carpinus-caroliniana/

In my opinion some of the prettiest trees on the planet. With care and the correct pruning can easily be arboretum quality.

 

[Bronco]

I'd start here, the UF Ag outreach people are great at this... tree/bush/plants Id, soil quality etc.. and send them your pics

https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/trees-and-shrubs/trees/tree-identification.html

 

[JAXJEREMY]

I think @ray benson may have nailed it..description sounds like a beech, especially the part about the fluted wood and the smooth bluish gray bark..

Good call @Bronco, I've tried the UF extension before and it's been hit or miss.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Not Box Elder, Hackberry or Beech that I am familiar with. Maybe a member of the Beech family, I'm researching.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

@buzz sawyer , I'll be curious to see what you come up with..Based on the description it looks a lot like a beech to me..or maybe it's a son of a "beech"..poor attempt at humor.

 

[ATH]

Might be blue beech or ironwood. Sometimes called muscle wood.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/carpinus-caroliniana/

In my opinion some of the prettiest trees on the planet. With care and the correct pruning can easily be arboretum quality.

Agreed, it is Carpinus. Beech twigs would be a little more stout (not a lot, but a little). Really big (long) terminal buds on Beech - but wrong season for those.

While Beech can rarely have some formations in the wod like that, it is not common. Carpinus, however, always looks like that.

Native range of Carpinus goes slightly deeper into FL than Fagus...not that this is a determining factor, just another piece of info.

Also, given the site description, it sounds like a Carpinus site. It is a common understory tree. I have seen the common name of "water beech" as it likes those wetter areas. I learned it as musclewood. Ironwood is also a common name...but I avoid it because there are too many other entirely unrelated species called ironwood. "American hornbeam" seems to be the preferred common name in the ornamental world - at least around here.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Thanks for the information @ATH..It's interesting because we had at least 6 of them growing back there..I'm assuming the smaller ones were all volunteers..

Looks like a dead ringer for the blue beech..definitely provides a lot of shade, the big one especially. The canopy does how need to be cleaned up..

 

[JAXJEREMY]

ok. so carpinus shows up as birch?? Is there a difference between birch and beech, or is beech in the birch family?? Confused..This pic looks exactly like my tree.

 

[Cricket]

Might be blue beech or ironwood. Sometimes called muscle wood.

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/carpinus-caroliniana/

In my opinion some of the prettiest trees on the planet. With care and the correct pruning can easily be arboretum quality.

I was going to go with hornbeam, or some relative thereof. There are a lot of them along a river I paddle fairly often, though I don't recall them being quite that blotchy looking, there are probably various varieties I know nothing about.

 

[ATH]

Your tree is a Carpinus. That's in the birch family (Betulaceae - doesn't make it a birch though...just in the same family). Another name for that species is "Water beech" or "Blue beech". That is a common name, not indicative of biological relationship). That does NOT mean they are related to Beech (which are in the Fagaceae family). So, no it is not an actual Beech.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Your tree is a Carpinus. That's in the birch family (Betulaceae - doesn't make it a birch though...just in the same family). Another name for that species is "Water beech" or "Blue beech". That is a common name, not indicative of biological relationship). That does NOT mean they are related to Beech (which are in the Fagaceae family). So, no it is not an actual Beech.

So the tree is technically in the birch family, but called a Beech..clear as mud..hah..
Guess I'll just refer to it as a a water beech..

 

[RichMidd]

I live in northeast Florida and we have a creek that runs behind our house. along the edge of the creek we have some water oaks, hickory and a few other varieties. However, we have this one particular tree that seems to have spread over the years. We've been in the house for almost 17 years.

A few years back we had some tree work done after a hurricane came through. The tree guy said he thought they were box elder, but I'm not sure. I've cut down four of them so far just because they were choking out more desirable stuff..any thoughts on what these are?

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Definitely Carpinus. I’m jealous as I’ve turned It for years. It is hard as iron when dry and has a fine texture like boxwood. In my experience it is a slow grower.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Definitely Carpinus. I’m jealous as I’ve turned It for years. It is hard as iron when dry and has a fine texture like boxwood. In my experience it is a slow grower.

If you were closer I'd let you have the stack of logs I put aside..

 

[ATH]

So the tree is technically in the birch family, but called a Beech..clear as mud..hah..
Guess I'll just refer to it as a a water beech..

I just avoid the confusion...call it muscle-wood or hornbeam.

 

[JAXJEREMY]

Ok guys, I have another tree ID request for you..Hurricane Ian skirted just off shore last week. Unlike some other areas of the state, we were lucky. We did have some high winds and a bit of rain, Wednesday and through Thursday which caused this tree to come down. I'd never actually seen a tree just break and fall so this was a first for me..The sound of the trunk cracking as the wind twisted it was pretty scary..fortunately it didn't hit anything or anyone..

Here's the tree in question..

The top just missed my fence as it came down over the creek behind our house..





The bark is somewhat smooth and relatively easy to peel..the leaves are long and are grayish on the underside..





I was thinking maybe some sort of poplar but the leaves aren't the right shape..The wood is super easy to split, barely have to put any effort into it.

Any thoughts on what this might be??

 

[ATH]

Magnolia