Wood id

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Enzo's Dad

Feeling the Heat
Dec 16, 2013
340
Canton, CT
Does anyone know what this is? I was thinking it was white oak but it was vey stringy when I split it . I found a ton of it in the woods but I’m not sure it’s good to burn. And the wood I am using to split on is the shag bark hickory in the picture

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My guess just from these photos is basswood.
 
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+1 Looks like the basswood I get around here.
 
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I agree with basswood, I have found that it makes great kindling. It's very light weight and almost splits itself.
 
Yes, not high btu hardwood but good shoulder and mix in wood. Its not very dense so I don't split down as small as I do other stuff.
 
My first impression was junk wood, then basswood.
 
Cottonwood
 
That crossed my mind, but I doubt he found any cottonwood in Connecticut.

That surprises me. I have two giant poplars in my yard in MA and thats what it looks like to me. I imagine they must exist 150 miles away.
 
That surprises me. I have two giant poplars in my yard in MA and thats what it looks like to me. I imagine they must exist 150 miles away.
Yellow poplar or tulip poplar is very common in PA, and I would think in your neighborhood as well, but looks nothing like the pictures. It has distinct, large kind of tulip shaped leaves. It's not a true poplar though. Trees in the Populus genus, which includes, bigtooth aspen, quaking aspen, and eastern cottonwood (which some people may call poplar), resemble what's in the photo. I looked up a map of the range of eastern cottonwood, and was surprised to see there are pockets in PA and New England, so it may be. I believe they're much more common in river bottoms on the plains though. I've never seen one in PA, and would suspect they're kind of uncommon there as well. Aspens on the other hand are pretty common, at least in the places around here that you would expect to see them; old fields, old clearcuts etc. Either way it's a very light wood, not something that will hold a fire all night.
 
Yeah it's shoulder season wood. I burned about 3/4 cords of it this year and it burns hot and fast with few coals. Good for those 35-40 degree days to take the edge off.