Early season tree ID

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JimBear

Minister of Fire
Dec 15, 2017
666
Iowa
Is this ash? The county is cleaning out road ditches & before they butcher them with the excavator & shredder head I thought I
would inquire.

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It looks Ashy to me but I have a poor track record identifying it.
 
99.9% Ash, looks like the EAB is just recently moving in to your neighborhood, my seed pods haven't been see round here for 4-5 years.
 
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Ash. Around here they are all dead, so all you need to do to ID them is look for small D-shaped holes in the bark. Evidence of the EAB. Very good firewood, splits decen.
 
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Agreed ash. Another telltale sign of EAB killed tree's besides the 'D' shaped holes is the woodpeckers knock the top layer of the bark off to get at the grubs and bugs underneath. The grey colored outer layer of the bark is chipped off and the underside looks more tan. Not all the way down to the wood, just the outer layer of the bark usually. 2 of the 3 mature ash in my yard have already been burned. I'm fighting what maybe a losing battle trying to save the third with the soil soak treatment yearly. It's helping, but may be to late. I have a cluster of 6 that I've been doing the soil soak for the last 4 years and they seem to stay uninfested. A neighbor up the road also has been having success with the annual soil soak.
 
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Is this a trick question?
I think only a picture of an Apple Tree with apples on it would be more difinitive.
No trick questions, there is some sort of tree around here that has a bark similar (not identical) to Ash. It all seems to be dying. So I thought I would snap some pics & inquire, the seed pods are what caught my attention. I always called the other stuff swamp maple because it always seems to grow in wetter areas, maybe it is poplar I have no clue. I have just never been around ash that much. I also didn’t think Ash liked constant wet ground & the posted trees are in a wet road ditch. I have had enough Osage, Mulberry, Honey Locust, Cherry & Elm to keep me busy. I didn’t really have much use for investigating Ash.
 
Yeah, Tulip Poplar bark can be very similar to White Ash. That's Ash, though. It likes moist soil but you'll see it further up on slopes that drain. Tulip likes damp soil as well.
You're in for a treat with the Ash; Splits easy and burns great. Grab all you can.