# What kind of tree was this?



## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

What kind of tree was this? I guess that would be what kind of wood is this? IF it had leaves on it I could I.D. it. I thought it was oak when I cut into it. Then my dad stopped by he said it was ironwood, but I know it is not that. The bark is to rough and no sparks from the chainsaw, Usually get a few with ironwood. I wasn't thinking though if it was oak I would have remembered it from the summer I don't have any oak in my yard, no leaves, no acorns.



















This is the stand of tree it came from, they all appear to be the same except one basswood in the bunch.










Thanks
Studhauler


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## Glenda in MS (Sep 15, 2007)

Hickory or saw jack?


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Hickory.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

Does hickory trees have nut. There are never any nuts. I am in minnesota zone 3 (yeah thats cold, 6 above right now). I don't think hickory grows here. It is not elm, it is not stringy enough. It may be ash.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Hickories don't neccesaryly have nuts. That's a hickory, going by the wood color and bark. See that almost basket weave design of the bark? Hickory.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Mmm, you're right. It could be ash. I believe you are right, in fact. I always have a problem with those two. My first inclination is to label it hickory, but I forget about ash. I think that is ash.
ETA Dang! It really looks like hickory to me, but now I'm second guessing myself. The color really says hickory.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Hickory does grow in Minnesota but it is not common. Ash limbs always curve downward toward the ground. Hard to tell from the photo but my best guess is black ash.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I bet my money on tink's ID. Ash has that very tight looking bark, and more raised pattern.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Do you have any of the small branches from it? I can narrow it down if you have the small branches and can post a good shot of the leaf scars. Hickory and ash leaf scars are very different.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

Will post pics to tomorrow of the branches. The branches did come down toward the ground. My bet is ash. What I looked is Hickory is zone 4 or higher and I am a solid zone 3.


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

Do you have locust out there?

My WAG.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

No locust around here.

Pics of the small branches as requested. I am 95% sure it is ash now.



















Thanks for all the help.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Yep, ash. No question.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

So today I cut down what I thought was an ash, but when cutting the small branches off I noticed they had buds on them; the ash didn't. Then I noticed all the branch were strait out or up, not swept down like ash. Could this be hickory? The bark is like ash maybe just a little smoother. The trunk has the dark heart wood like in the other pictures. 


























.


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## Badger (Jun 11, 2010)

Your first one was an ash but this one's an elm.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

I envy you guy that can tell trees without their leave on. I can ID a few this way but not many. I guess I need to get a book and learn. 

Thanks for the education,

Studhauler


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Haha! You should try IDing them laying on the ground as logs and covered in mud. It just takes practice. If buds and limbs are available it helps a lot.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Funny thing, I had a dream last night about the ash logs. I miss my old job I guess. I dreamed I was scaling with another fellow and we ID'd an ash log, a d then a few logs later was the other end of that log. My coworker was trying to say it was hickory. I had to show him how they were two halves of the same tree.


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## Studhauler (Jul 30, 2011)

I bet that takes practice. I never thought about when a tree / log was ID. I guess I assumed the guy cutting it down ID it and from there it was segregated by type.


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## Badger (Jun 11, 2010)

When I was first starting in forestry an old forester told me never to learn trees by the leaves - leaves are notorious liars.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

First time I became familiar with an ash was in Boston, MA. there were two growing outside my building. I couldn't figure out what they were. I 1'st thought they were a type of hickory, but they smelled nothing like hickory if I burned a twig. One day there were arborists on the street and I asked them. They told me it was hick.. I showed them that a broken twig didn't say hick.. They gave up. Finally I went a d bought a field guide. It was black ash. The reason they gave me problems at the mill where I worked was because we weren't suppose to get them, but we got a lot of hickory. So, it was very easy to breeze right over it and call it hick.. If you just give it a second look it is pretty noticeable.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I remember cutting quite a bit of ash for firewood when I was a kid. One unique quality of ash is that it burns fairly well even when it is green. I also have ash here in my woods, for now anyway. I suppose the darn emerald ash borer will get them in the next few years. Vicker, would you recommend hanging on to the sawlogs? I imagine if they all get wiped out they could become valuable in years to come.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Might be a good idea. I don't think the bugs harm the lumber at all.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

vicker said:


> Might be a good idea. I don't think the bugs harm the lumber at all.


No, they just ring bark the (cambium?) layer and kill the tree.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I think it's hardest to id them when they are stumps or logs. Possible but not real easy for me. I learned it in high school when I took forestry through the vocational school. We had to id twigs, leaves, bark and finished boards from native woods.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

As a general rule of thumb, any tree or shrub with an opposite branching pattern can be identified through the acronym MAD V Horse.

Maple
Ash
Dogwood
Viburnum
Horse Chestnut

There are exceptions like the alternate branched Maple but they are far and few between.


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## ranger4327 (Dec 11, 2008)

Basswood?


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