Wood ID please?

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ZeroJunk
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That one looks like a tame cherry that we have here. Slick bark that peels off like a skin.

We had several around when I was a kid. They would get 2 feet or better in diameter. Some kind of blight took them all out about the same time. But, I have a wild one down on the creek and the bark on it is not all that different. I don't know whether cherry seedlings go back like pecans, apples, etc. to who knows what. Could be a seedling down there.
 
tnichols

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Wild cherry of some sort. Burns just fine and smells so good you'll whip your rat if you step outside after you throw a stick or two in the stove. We have alot of it in the timber I cut in. Bark looks identical, and has a redish hue to it.

Mulberry here is a yellowish when cut green. Takes forever to dry, but is #8 on the BTU chart.
 
SilverKing

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posted earlier,but it didnt take.Anyhow,thats a serviceberry tree,also called "sarvis".Close kin to wild cherry,with thicker bark and more blossoms in the spring.They get about 3 feet across the butt around here ,out in fields.Good wood.
 
dboyd351

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Looks like wild (Black) cherry to me, too. When they are saplings they have bark like:
imagesCAGGQDHZ.jpg
But when they get big, they look like the ones in the OP's pictures. At least on my property that's what I see. It is also considered excellent firewood in these parts. I think if you get large trees with straight trunks they can be valuable for furniture making and such, but they don't usually grow that straight.
 

w8ye

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Here is a Black Cherry from Wikipedia. The bark is close to the one in the OP. But from looking around on the Internet, it looks like the bark may be a little heavier in VA & WV? Shag Bark cherry does not have a separate genius? There's a lot of black cherry on my property and it looks like the picture below. But I pay more attention to the cut wood and grain structure as Ohio Gregg talked about.

450px-PrunusSerotinaBark.jpg
 
the westspartan

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That there wood hails from a thornless honey locust tree a cultivar of gleditsia triacanthos. At first glance the images look a little like black (wild) cherry prunus serotina but the bark in the pictures is broken into long strips instead of roundish chips and the fresh split wood of a cherry tree would be a good bit more pale, it darkens over time with exposure to the air. This also explains the presence of the thick purplish brown seedpods.
 
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dboyd351

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Look at this photo again
View attachment 260474

The rounds on the left side of the picture look like they have long strips of bark, but those on the right look more like the Wilkipedia photo. I take it these are all from the same tree? Maybe there is that much variation in the bark. Still, it looks like cherry to me. I've go them all around my house - I'll go look again tomorrow when it gets light.
 
Anthony_Va.

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Here is a Black Cherry from Wikipedia. The bark is close to the one in the OP. But from looking around on the Internet, it looks like the bark may be a little heavier in VA & WV? Shag Bark cherry does not have a separate genius? There's a lot of black cherry on my property and it looks like the picture below. But I pay more attention to the cut wood and grain structure as Ohio Gregg talked about.

450px-PrunusSerotinaBark.jpg

Thats what we have around here thats called Wild Cherry. Looks just like that. It has very small cherries on it that ripen late spring. The raccoons munch on them heavily.

The tame cherries have a slicker bark (black and red cherries) that peels off. The OP's pics look alot like the wild Cherry we have around here.
 
the westspartan

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I still say thornless honey locust. It is a common street and yard tree in the north eastern US and it lacks the horizontal marks across the broken plates of bark that is clearly seen in a cherry tree.
 
procarbine2k1

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I still say thornless honey locust. It is a common street and yard tree in the north eastern US and it lacks the horizontal marks across the broken plates of bark that is clearly seen in a cherry tree.

The more I look at it, the more I think you are right. The Honey Locust in my yard gets that same slime green fungus that a couple of the rounds have. If I could smell it, I would be able to tell right away. I think Honey Locust smells a little bit like Hickory (slightly musty I guess you could say).
 
procarbine2k1

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The best part is that cherry is good firewood, but seasoned locust is top notch. It throws some sparks, but it burns long and hot.

Locust is a favorite of mine. Pest tree, so no real value and puts off GREAT heat. I try to burn my Ash first (when its not as cold out), and by the time I get to my stash of Locust I dont want to fool with anything else.
 
user 64030

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A friend of mine sold 4 cherry trees to a mill not long ago and they did the cutting. He got 600.00 each.

He is lucky. Around here they are not buying black cherry, I asked. The mill said they are putting what they have in cross-ties and pallets...

I have two large Black Cherries behind the house that I want down, was hoping to see the logs used for something beside my recreational burning.


dw
 
sawfun9

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Get a chainsaw mill and make some boards. You could make benches out of them. At least lou'd get to play with a saw some and have something to show of those trees once your done.
 
Anthony_Va.

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He is lucky. Around here they are not buying black cherry, I asked. The mill said they are putting what they have in cross-ties and pallets...

I have two large Black Cherries behind the house that I want down, was hoping to see the logs used for something beside my recreational burning.


dw

Last I checked here, Black Walnut and Wild Cherry were both bringing 1600 bucks per 1000. Thats for High grade (veneer) though. Next thing to them was White Oak, which was only 850 per 1000.

Crazy how much it changes from state to state. Thats been back a couple months when I checked the numbers though.
 

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