I scored my first Elm today

It looks like Siberian aka Chinese Elm to me, I've got two of them down and cut in my yard right now. I have a woods full of Oaks, Ash, Hickory and more black walnut than I would like. I don't think it's Walnut. Everything from the bark, the grain, the leaves, the weight/wetness and the final tell . . . . give it a sniff and see if it faintly resembles Cow P!$$.

Did that when I split that round this morning and no smell of effluent. But, I hope your right as there was one big straight log in that tree. I even remarked to the tree guy what nice grain it had after he noodled a round.

Maybe these pics will help some more...

http://www.twistedoaksawmill.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=72


I really like this thread:


http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7920

Sorry double post...pics of Chinese elm: http://lumberjocks.com/gfixler/blog/15008

Sorry evil Dave...me thinks you have two black walnuts cut down instead... :-/

Nope, black walnut trees have a sure sign . . . . walnuts. mine are Siberian Elm and I'm thinking that's what he's got ahold of I've lived with the darn spring buds coating my deck and spa cover for 17 years now. I worked in a lumber yard working hardwood for 5 summers I know walnut trees, especially the ones throughout my yard and woods . His leaf isn't straight like walnut tang and it's still a green leaf. Most walnuts have dropped 99% of their leaves by this time a year around here anyway. Siberian Elm doesn't split like American Elm, nor burn quite as well either. It is a decent burning wood though.

A lot of walnut trees don't produce nuts.. Up to you what you want to believe.

Just shocked to hear this is your first elm tree is all.

Do these help sort this out? They were noodled out of rounds 24-28" in diameter.

I may have had one before and not known it. I rarely get to see the tree standing and usually anything smaller than 6" in diameter along with the leaves is gone as well.

Splits in the background are not from this tree.

Seriously, this looks exactly like the chinese or siberian elm I brought home over the weekend. The grain, the bark, and the leaves. Identical.

definitely not Black walnut. definitely. check out a couple of the threads that have pictures of my Chinese Elm:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/42942/
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/466724/

That ain't pretty. None of it is like that. Not even the limb wood. It all splits nice and straight.

The grain defanitely screams Bl Walnut, find a small branch (1/8 to 3/8") and snap it in half, if the pith is hollow it's most likely Walnut.

Oh.....What exactl is "The Beast"???

Name compliments of Zap. Design and build by my late FIL, God bless his soul. Conversion from 4 cyl Wisconsin out of a Bobcat to 5hp electric is on me.

Not sure where the twig with the leaves went, but that was the only thing that small I had.

The man is correct.

Siberian elm is totally a different animal from the stringy American elm or slippery elm. Black walnut it is not.

in pictures the colors of both Black Walnut and the elm we are discussing look very similar. You have the lighter wood on the outside, and the dark heartwood. In person you should notice more of a brownish tint to the Chinese Elm and more of a greyish tint to the Black Walnut. When split and it starts to dry you should notice that the Chinese Elm really gets a smooth butterscotch kinda color to it (the heartwood at least).

The bark on the chinese elm should be pretty thick in comparison to the black walnut. The smell should be a dead giveaway. I found that my Chinese Elm didn't have a whole lot of smell to it when I split it unless I stuck my nose down to the fresh split wood. When you are splitting black walnut, everybody within a block will know it by the smell.

I don't know what wood it is . . . but like Jags I have to say the leaves say "I'm an elm" but the grain and splitting characteristics say "I'm something else entirely." Schitzophrenic wood?

Don't see how the links of you wondering what that wood is proves that its Chinese elm. Nice to see that other posters thought it was black walnut though.

lol, I know it's not necessarily posted there (because I WAS wondering what I had at the time), but I later got good confirmation from leaves, the internet, and a local nature nut that hangs out at the library all the time. One thing I know is that what was in my pictures isn't walnut at all. Black walnut I know better than most anything else because it's something like half of what I've been burning for the past three years (ok, 1/2 might be a slight exaggeration, maybe 1/3...)

More proof this is Siberian elm... compare the picture above with this of Walnut.



And this of Siberian elm.



Source: http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/trees/eb38-2.htm

Problem is that black walnut leaves can alternate too..