Wood ID Help

[num1hitter]

I Have easy access to at least a cord of this but want to find out if it is worth the time. I don't have a guess as to the type. Any help would be appreciated with identification.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

That is VERY fresh Mulberry, takes time to dry out but when dry YES it is worth the time-GRAB IT !

 

[num1hitter]

Awesome. .. thanks a lot for the quick response.

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

Mulberry. Very high BTU. I found some last spring and came here for the ID. Exact same stuff.

 

[JA600L]

I agree also on the mulberry. There is an abundance of that around here. It seems to grow everywhere. I also agree that it needs a lot of time to fully season. It doesn't burn well wet, but when fully seasoned burns very well.

 

[midwestcoast]

Nice. I love Mulberry. Love the look of fresh splits, the way they darken to purple/brown over time, the way it smells, the way it snaps & sparks while it burns and most of all the way it burns long like oak, but seasons in half the time.

 

[Wood Duck]

Not worth the effort - are you near me? I'll pick it up for you. That lousy Mulberry will just burn a long time and give off a ton of heat.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Could also be Osage Orange. The bark looks a lot more like Mulberry, but I've seen some young Osage Orange trees that looked exactly like that. Leaf pic would be a definite. The wood is practically the same between the two of them... It is definitely one of those 2 though...

 

[mstoelton]

Not Osage. That is definitely mulberry. Burns really nice.

If you load mulberry only in your stove, when you fully damper down, you can get pure blue secondary flames - really cool to watch.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Not Osage. That is definitely mulberry. Burns really nice.

If you load mulberry only in your stove, when you fully damper down, you can get pure blue secondary flames - really cool to watch.

What are you seeing that indicates it is NOT Osage and is definitely Mulberry?

I've cut a LOT of both. I currently have over 3 full cords of Osage sitting in my stacks. The wood/bark isn't always easily distinguished between one another. Young Osage trees especially can look exactly like a Mulberry. The 2 trees are cousins, and sometime the only way to tell is leaf/fruit.

Just my experience. If you're keying in on some subtle differences then we'll have to agree to disagree. I will uphold that it's too difficult to tell the difference for certain between the 2 based on wood/bark alone based upon my experiences identifying trees in the field.

If you're seeing something I'm not seeing can you enlighten me? I'm always willing to learn new things...

 

[Andy S.]

Mulberry. I don't think Osage Orange is very common here in SEPA.

 

[mstoelton]

What are you seeing that indicates it is NOT Osage and is definitely Mulberry?

Two primary indicators that this is not osage and definitely is mulberry.

1. Color is wrong for osage. Osage is much lighter yellow when freshly cut, and much darker almost orange -red when weathered.

2. Straight grain, Mulberry is commonly straight grained and can be split easily by hand. Osage is some of the twistiest most difficult to split wood on the planet.

I've cut a lot of both also. I've cut osage to make selfbows and mulberry for firewood. That is Mulberry. Yes I know they are cousins.