What type of tree is this?

HitzerHillbilly said:

A boss of mine, who used to be an arborist, said he thinks is oak

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Is your very heavy? I don't think mine is dense enough to be part if the oak family

That bark had an oak look to it. Not so sure now tho. We have a lot of aspen in my area did it have a strong winter green smell when it was split?

To the folks around here poplar = trembling aspen (that's probably not accurate in the poplar family scheme of things). Not much help here and now, but it also kinda "stinks" when burning IMHO. Lots of ash, not lots of heat. Heavy when green but featherweight when dry. You'll know for sure in a few months

HitzerHillbilly said:

he thinks is oak

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I've never seen any Oak with that paper-like underbark, and I don't see any medullary rays. Split wood doesn't look like Oak either.

bag of hammers said:

To the folks around here poplar = trembling aspen (that's probably not accurate in the poplar family scheme of things).

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Tulip "Poplar" isn't a true Poplar, it's in the Magnolia family. I'm starting to think this may be yet another hit for nrford, although I didn't think Aspen was this far south. Northern IN is almost Michigan, though. Split pic doesn't quite look right for Tulip. I'm looking forward to the bark pics.

HitzerHillbilly said:

A boss of mine, who used to be an arborist, said he thinks is oak

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The bark looks a little bit like red oak but the wood does not... Are there any medullary rays visible in the end-grain?

As of right now, from what I've seen I'm leaning toward ash. I don't think it's white ash but it may be one of the less-common ashes.

I'm not convinced it's "poplar". The only "poplar" that is common in Indiana is Tulip Poplar and while the bark looks similar to what you would find on a small limb of poplar, it's not the bark found on larger limbs or the trunk, and the wood doesn't have the highly typical green-purple hue of Tulip Poplar...

Cottonwood bark, on mature trees is VERY coarse, like that of Black Locust etc, I think it's safe to say we don't have cottonwood on this one, the bark is far too smooth.

Sycamore bark is more scaley and flaky than that, I don't think it's sycamore.

There aren't many options left. The bark looks like that of a young hickory, red oak, etc but the wood doesn't match those...

nrford said:

It is Aspen, most likely Quaking

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I don't know myself, but nrford gets them right. I checked my books and the bark could pass for aspen, just saying........

that thin papery inner layer under the bark looks like the big tooth aspen I C/S/S two year ago.
1/2 cord for each tree. Younger part of the tree was smooth bark like birch just grey and without the curls .

HitzerHillbilly said:

A boss of mine, who used to be an arborist, said he thinks is oak

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Key word's " used to be" Poplar/Aspen/Popple end of story.

Oldman47 said:

Not very likely in Indiana.

My ash looks a bit like that with the bark peeling off but is dark gray in color on the old cut ends and even the splits have a gray tint to them. I have no idea what you have there.

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I travel Indiana a lot and see aspen all over!

jackatc1 said:

Key word's " used to be" Poplar/Aspen/Popple end of story.

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What he said (what I was trying to say)....

This is Bigtooth Aspen, which is found in Indiana, and grows pretty large. Quaking Aspen usually doesn't get very large this far south. The pattern of the bark, stringy inner bark, and slightly stringy, white wood are all characteristic of Bigtooth Aspen. I live about as far south as northern Indiana, and Bigtooth Aspen is a very common tree, although lots of people don't seem to recognize it. Bigtooth Aspen is a true poplar - Populus grandidentatum.

The question I'd be asking is whether you have Poison Ivy in Indiana.

Key word's " used to be"

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He's not going to forget everything he knew but it's easy to make a mistake trying to ID from pics....

Applesister said:

The question I'd be asking is whether you have Poison Ivy in Indiana.

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Indiana is right next door to me. In my wood lot I have seen it blanket areas 100 feet square more or less.

Applesister said:

The question I'd be asking is whether you have Poison Ivy in Indiana.

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Heh-heh.

Oldman47 said:

Indiana is right next door to me. In my wood lot I have seen it blanket areas 100 feet square more or less.

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I think she forgot to add the . You can see it in the last pic.

HitzerHillbilly said:

I was thinking about trying it in 3-4 months.

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If you've got a meter, stick it in a few months. If not, toss a split on and see how much it sizzles. I bet it dries fast.

Applesister said:

The question I'd be asking is whether you have Poison Ivy in Indiana.

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I see a lot of boxelder:


but there could be some poison ivy mixed in, it tends to grow right underneath virginia creeper here. One has to be careful.