Wood ID help please

[sevensandeights]

I recently worked out a deal with a local tree service to drop wood at my place. Got 4 beautiful loads of ash and then a load of sycamore (the worst splitting wood in the history of the world IMO!). Told him I really only wanted true hardwoods and there would be no hard feelings if he couldn't accommodate that request since I know he has a business to run. Getting mostly ash with some cherry and maple (hard and soft).

The last load had some of this in it:
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Bark looks like pine but obviously it's not. Dark heart wood. Smells like manure when freshly cut. Splits relatively easily (on a SuperSplit).
I think I have an idea but am looking for confirmation.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Not sure, maybe some sort of Tupelo? Can we see some split wood? Are the leaves compound or simple?
fwiw, sycamore splits more easily on a tangent than radially. Not bad firewood. Quarter sawn has really nice rays.

 

[sevensandeights]

View attachment 15927694954123943147222125244960.jpgView attachment 15927695445827573329140372087261.jpgView attachment 15927695870638786948113608520055.jpg

 

[sevensandeights]

The stems appear to be alternate but at the end of each stem is a cluster of leaves.

 

[stumpy75]

Buckeye

 

[buzz sawyer]

The stems appear to be alternate but at the end of each stem is a cluster of leaves.

How many in the cluster?

 

[sevensandeights]

I was thinking dogwood. Everything matches except compound leaves vs. alternate.

Looked at images online and Tupelo seems to have a waxy/shiny leaf. Buckeye leaves appear to have more veins per in each leaf. Going by Google image search only - I have no real world experience with either.

 

[stumpy75]

Did those leaves all come out of one place, like a buckeye would? Like this? Buckeye leaf

I also thought I saw 5 leaves, which would be right for buckeye. Dogwood does not have a smell, but Ohio buckeye( Aesculus glabra) definitely does! It's also known as fetid buckeye...

However, both dogwood and buckeye have opposite branching...

 

[sevensandeights]

Sorry about the pictures but I only have a few random branches and the leaves are starting to shrivel up.
View attachment IMG_20200621_205501900.jpgView attachment IMG_20200621_205420519.jpgView attachment IMG_20200621_205550819.jpgView attachment IMG_20200621_205720601.jpg

Crappy picture but shows that more than 5 leaves come out of the cluster:

 

[sevensandeights]

Trying to show the endgrain. Ignore the wood to the right and below - that is Maple.
View attachment IMG_20200621_205747434.jpgView attachment IMG_20200621_205822065.jpg

 

[lone wolf]

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Gumwood maybe.

 

[Woodanhor]

Ignore the other pieces in this pic, they are Maple.
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Is that the end cut with the hole in the center?

 

[stumpy75]

Ok, it's not buckeye.

I'm now going to lean toward tupelo. (Nyssa sylvatica ). Also known as black gum, or just gum. However, you said it was easy to split, and that sure is not what black gum is. In fact, it's one of the hardest woods there is to split. I thought elm was bad until I got a few pieces of black gum.

So, at this point I'm stumped. Anyone else want to give this ID a try?

 

[sevensandeights]

Is that the end cut with the hole in the center?

Yes this the end cut.

I'm in northwest Pennsylvania by the way if that helps.

 

[Woodanhor]

Yes this the end cut.

I'm in northwest Pennsylvania by the way if that helps.

I usually think of that hollow center as a trait of ash
Maybe a few others have it too but I think its pretty distinctive

 

[stumpy75]

Black gum seeds

Check out the link above with one of your pics that had the start of some seeds. Looks similar...

I had not heard of the hollow center being a trait of ash. However, the bark is not ash...

 

[sevensandeights]

It is definitely NOT ash.

Everything I've read about gum trees is about how hard they are to split. This wood was easy and not stringy. My pic is a close-up. In person, the seed pods don't look like those in that link (those are more like berries).

Any thoughts about the manure smell of a fresh cut? Also a lack of grain in splits compared oak/ash/maple.

I don't have much of this but I'm debating about if I should mix it in with the ash/maple/cherry in my for sale stacks.

 

[buzz sawyer]

It is definitely NOT ash.

Everything I've read about gum trees is about how hard they are to split. This wood was easy and not stringy. My pic is a close-up. In person, the seed pods don't look like those in that link (those are more like berries).

Any thoughts about the manure smell of a fresh cut? Also a lack of grain in splits compared oak/ash/maple.

I don't have much of this but I'm debating about if I should mix it in with the ash/maple/cherry in my for sale stacks.

Yes, Sweetgum is hard to split. Have you tried burning any yet? If it stinks when stacked or burned, I would not include it.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I don't know what it is but those are GREAT pictures to help someone ID it!

 

[abbott295]

Northwest Pennsylvania, ok, but is there a chance that it may be some sort of onamental, not native, species? Was it in a yard or along a street or in a park? Oh, right, dropped off by a tree service so you have no idea where it came from, but a tree service could well be working in all of those places. I think we need to be thinking of things we don't see growing on trees around there.